Light in my Life but Love in the dark
by Yavanna and SunStar
Summary: RePost! Join the Marauders and Lily as well as 3 OC's as they attempt to cope with prophecies, attempted romance and of course Lord Voldemort. Full summary inside. Please read and review!
1. New Beginnings

**Disclaimer:** We own nothing apart from the plot, Esmee, Ally and Lia and any other characters you don't recognise. Everything else belongs to J.K.Rowling and we take no credit for it whatsoever so please don't sue us. Thankyou.

**Summary:** Its 6th year and things are getting dangerous. Join the Marauders and Lily, Esmee, Ally and Lia as they face up to prophecies, attempted romance and the rising power of the evil Lord Voldemort.

**A/N:** Okay myself and SunStar are back! Light in my Life but Love in the dark, we hope is going to be better than before, as we go through the trials and tribulations of Lily and James, Sirius, Remus, Peter, and of course our new characters Esmee, Ally and Lia. We really hope you enjoy and this time we are definitely here for good. It is going to be similar to our original version, well the main story line is, but we are going to expand the plot and of course the characters. Please let us know what you think!

Yavanna and SunStar

Prologue

The trees loomed in around them, tall, harsh and menacing. No light apart from the stars above and from their wands could be seen. They paused in a small clearing, the undergrowth seeming to allow them entry for the meeting that would soon commence. They were in fact Professor Dumbledore, the relatively new Headmaster of Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Professor McGonagall the Transfiguration teacher and Head of Gryffindor. Also lurking nearby with a sour expression on his face was Professor Terp, the Potions master and Head of Slytherin.

The times they lived in were darkening with the rise of the self appointed Lord Voldemort, who was growing in power each day. It was now time for good to rally against the evil that was festering and they were willing to get any extra information that had the slightest possibility of helping. This was why the three professors were there, waiting to meet with one of the centaurs that lived in the Forbidden Forest. It appeared however that not all of them thought that this was the best idea.

"Centaurs!" Professor Terp exclaimed under his breath. "Bloody stargazing fools who share nothing" he muttered, clearly thinking this a waste of time. However the forest was so silent that he was easily heard, and Professor McGonagall gave a sigh of exasperation.

"Look Hanas, you didn't have to come, but I'm sure Professor Dumbledore has a very good reason for arranging this meeting", she snapped, although jumped slightly as what she hoped was an owl took flight from a nearby tree. Terp allowed a smirk to grace his features.

"I'm sure he does, I was merely stating that centaurs don't share information with us lowly humans".

McGonagall started to open her mouth to reply but Professor Dumbledore intervened.

"Peace Hanas, Minerva. I do not doubt that most centaurs dislike sharing information of the future with humans, yet there is one who is willing to provide some information, and for that we should be very grateful, as it is a great risk on his part". He pinned them both with his gaze until the faint sound of hooves could be heard. "Now if I'm not mistaken, I do believe this is him".

As Dumbledore finished speaking a wild looking, young, black haired centaur entered the clearing, an inner flame appearing to be burning in his eyes. He extended his hand to Dumbledore.

"Hello Professor Dumbledore, I hope you and your companions are well but I do not have much time to spare. If the rest of my tribe discovers what I am doing, things may go very ill indeed". His voice was deep and rumbling that suited his powerful looking stature. Dumbledore grasped his hand firmly.

"I understand Bane, and I thank you once more. I have noticed however that Venus and Mars are becoming aligned, something which has not happened in many a year I believe, and in all of my so called wisdom I am unable to understand what this means. Perhaps you may shed some light on the matter?" The ageing wizard got straight to the point, his blue eyes gazing intently at the centaur over his half moon spectacles.

Bane threw his head back and stared at the sky and in a voice that seemed far away, began to speak.

"Darkness is coming, yet there is hope in eight, they can do much to help, but only together, not separate. Evil will be vanquished for a time through an act of tragedy, but whether it returns, the stars do not say". He dropped his head suddenly and his eyes seemed to burn.

"I can say no more, I have already betrayed the laws of my people, I can not risk anymore. Farewell". And with that he was off, kicking up a trail of dust and dead leaves behind him. Silence settled around the Professors once more, but not for long.

"I told you, centaurs reveal nothing. I can't see any good that has come from this" Terp snapped, thoroughly annoyed by what he deemed to be a waste of time.

"Can you not?" Dumbledore questioned, his silver beard shimmering slightly. "I believe Bane revealed more than he meant to", and before waiting for a reply he turned and began to walk back through the forest to his school, the two other Professors trailing behind him in deep thought.

Chapter 1

**How to win the heart of Lily Evans**

**1**. **Firstly…**

James Potter looked down at what he had just written and cringed in embarrassment. It didn't matter that no one else would see it; it was, to put it frankly, a desperate and pathetic attempt. He knew that a simple and stupid plan wouldn't win her over, he'd been trying to get her to like him for the past two years and where had it gotten him? Into a whole load of embarrassing situations that his friends the Marauders would never let him live down. A slight flush crept over his cheeks as he remembered her last outburst at him, it had taken a lot but surprisingly she'd gotten through to him. He really was a great big bullying prat.

A sigh of frustration escaped him as he buried his hands in his hair and let his head drop to the table in defeat. That was another mark against him. If it wasn't bad enough that the love of his life thought he had the personality of a soiled dishcloth, she also hated the fact that his hair was so bloody messy and that part of it wasn't even his fault! Didn't she know that he'd already tried _"Witch weekly's industrial super strength hair gel – it keeps even the most stubborn hair under control_"? Well actually when he came to think about it she probably didn't but that wasn't really the point. The fact was he had used it and it just didn't work! James decided then and there to blame everything on his gene pool.

But then it wasn't as if it worked against him with other girls, in fact they seemed to like it. No…Lily was just different, not just different, but special in James' eyes. His eyes…now they could be his saving grace! How many girls had he seen fall for his sparkling hazel eyes, despite the fact he wore glasses? Well he must have lost count but then…Lily wasn't most girls.

A call from downstairs alerted him to the time. If he didn't leave now then he'd be late for catching the Hogwarts Express. He unfolded his 6ft frame from his desk chair and glared down at the piece of paper that was gazing mockingly back up at him. A surge of determination ran through him as he crumpled it up. This year was to be a year of new beginnings, a year of change and he'd be damned if he wasted another year of his life in pining after Lily Evans. No this year there would be no pining; he was definitely going to win her over.

The sunshine peeped in through a gap in the curtains, waving and beckoning for the inhabitant of a snug cosy bed to get up. The inhabitant happened to be a sixteen year old red headed, green eyed girl who otherwise went by the name of Lily Evans. She rolled over and stretched, a smile spreading over her face. It was September 1st and she knew that within a matter of hours she'd be speeding back to school on the Hogwarts Express. Glancing at her bedside clock she saw that it had just turned seven o'clock, perfect timing on her part. She'd already packed her trunk the night before so she now had ample time to have a shower and breakfast before starting the drive up to King's Cross station.

After a fifteen minute shower, she dried herself quickly before dressing in the clothes she'd set out the night before. Leaving her hair up in a towel she hurried downstairs, the scent of a fried breakfast causing her stomach to rumble quietly. She paused in the doorway of the kitchen, a smile on her face and drunk in the site. There was her father, sitting at the table and reading the morning paper while her mother was busy cooking at the stove. Her smile faltered however when her emerald eyes rested on the figure of her older sister Petunia. Her sister was glowering at her and Lily gave herself up to the inevitable as she walked in to the room and sat down to eat.

"So freak, today's the day we finally manage to get rid of you is it?" her sister bit out nastily as Lily tried her best to ignore the stab of pain she felt. She remembered briefly the time before she'd been accepted to Hogwarts, when she and Petty had been the best of friends but she knew they'd never be able to get that close bond back again. Mr Evans glanced up from the paper and gave Petunia a stern look.

"Now, now Petty that's not very nice" he admonished but there was a tone of resignation in his voice, he knew it wouldn't make any difference. Instead he turned his attention to Lily. "All packed and ready are we sweetheart?"

"Yep Daddy I finished packing last night" Lily smiled at him which quickly turned into a beam of pleasure at the food that was placed in front of her. "Thanks Mum this smells delicious!" she exclaimed. Mrs Evans smiled fondly at her daughter before replying.

"Well dear it is the last time you'll be home for a while, no doubt your friends will want you stay with them at school for Christmas, so be sure that you write a lot to us, we will miss you so".

"Oh Mum you always know I'll write to you all, I miss you just as much" Lily assured her family before tucking in to her breakfast. Her eyes held a slightly distant look as she wondered what exactly her three best friends; Esmee Harris, Aldara Taylor and Karlia Smith were doing at this moment in time.

Peter Pettigrew was to put it simply, a nervous wreck. He'd tried his best to smooth his straw coloured hair down, to stop his watery blue eyes looking so watery, to be dressed tidily and had even practiced holding in his stomach for long periods of time whilst also managing to breath – a marvellous skill even if he did say so himself. But a sickening, sinking feeling warned him that it wouldn't be enough and that Esmee Harris just wouldn't be interested in him.

Ever since he'd first seen her on the platform at the beginning of their first year he'd been captivated. How could he not have been? Her violet eyes were the most spectacular thing he'd ever seen. It also helped that she was good friends with some of the boys in his year, which was one of the reasons why he'd decided to try and become such good friends with them, and to an extent his plan had worked. He had now three of the best friends he could ask for but he hadn't gotten the girl. As much as the Marauders were amazing there was some part of him that resented them. It was always James Potter, Sirius Black and Remus Lupin – the most popular and well liked, it was very rare that anyone ever seemed to notice him and Esmee certainly didn't.

But this year, this year he'd try harder, he'd do anything to get her to go out with him. After all wasn't he worthy? Wasn't he a part of the strongest group in school – what could she possibly not like about him? A spark of anger passed through him briefly as he recalled how many times she'd rejected him – he could only hope that this year that would change.

"Peter pumpkin are you ready?" his mothers light and high voice floated up the stairs to him.

"Yes Mummy I'll be down in a minute", was his despondent reply although he tried to force a lighter note into it for his mother's sake. He quickly gathered his things and carried his trunk down the stairs, sweating slightly as he finally reached the bottom. His mother seeing this immediately took out a handkerchief and started mopping his brow.

"Now Peter I know you don't like how I go on but you really must look after yourself this year and work hard. No getting in to trouble do you hear me? I know those friends of yours…" Peter sighed quietly and let his mother's voice wash over him, knowing that the lecture would last the whole journey to Kings Cross Station and he for one couldn't wait for it to be over.

Esmee Harris gazed at herself critically in the mirror before carefully applying another layer of mascara around her violet eyes. She'd already dealt with her blonde hair which her mother had magically straightened for her. Satisfied with her appearance that hadn't taken her too long to sort out (thankfully) she looked around her room checking to see if she'd forgotten anything. She'd packed most of her things the night before but got bored towards the end so she'd left the last few things for the morning.

Pleased that she hadn't forgotten anything she grabbed her trunk and started dragging it behind her and towards the stairs.

"You do realise that you'll strain your back by doing that now don't you?" an amused voice sounded behind her. She turned quickly to see her father standing in the doorway of the bathroom, a smile tugging at his mouth.

"Well father dearest", she said sarcastically, "How about you help me with it then?" Her father walked over and picked the impossibly heavy (in her opinion) trunk with ease before walking off ahead of her. She frowned slightly before catching up with him on his way down the stairs and poked him in the ribs. "Show off" she sulked just as her mother appeared by the front door.

"Well at least now we know where you get it from" Mrs Harris smirked as Esmee tried not to splutter.

"I do not show off!" she cried indignantly.

"No of course not, it must have been someone completely different who has been informing us of her amazing successes as being the ultimate matchmaker extraordinaire for the past five years at Hogwarts" her father said sarcastically whilst making his way out to the car. Esmee's face broke off in to a grin.

"Well what can I say? Is it my fault that my talents are so amazing that they have to be talked about?" she said with a mock seriousness before following her parents to the car.

"Now dear are you sure you haven't forgotten anything?" her mother inquired for what seemed like the millionth time.

"Yes Mum I have got everything I need" Esmee tried to disguise the exasperation she felt. They'd gotten about a mile down the road before Esmee forced them to turn back and she sprinted up in to the house. But the time she got back to the car she was completely out of breath.

"So you didn't forget anything?" her father asked with a raised eyebrow.

Esmee raised an eyebrow of her own in return "I have no idea what you are talking about" she said with feigned bemusement before joining in with the laughter of her parents. She glanced down at the red notebook in her hands – there was no way she could have forgotten this.

He really couldn't believe his luck. She was right there in front of him, a perfect vision of beauty as her blue eyed gaze glanced coyly up into his own silvery grey one. He didn't know how he'd done it but she'd finally come around to his way of thinking, she'd finally noticed him. His breathing quickened as she leant in slightly, and for a moment he thought he'd died and gone to heaven as –

"Remus! We've arrived already! Are you just going to sit there with a silly smile on your face all day?"

Remus glanced up sheepishly and tried desperately to stop a flush from appearing in his cheeks as he looked in to his mothers slightly amused face. Was it just him or did mothers always have a way of knowing what their own children were thinking? A worrying thought if ever there was one.

He rubbed tiredly at his eyes as he slipped out of the car but was slightly disappointed that he still wasn't taller then his father. Sure he wasn't short at 5'11 but he would much rather be 6ft. He didn't know why but for some reason that height would make him seem more like a man. He was brought out of his musing by his mother once more.

"Have a good year dear, and try your best to live up to your prefect status" she said somewhat reproachfully as Remus gave her a small hug.

"I will Mum don't worry. I'll try and write lots to both of you as well. Bye Mum, bye Dad". He gave them both a brief wave before he turned and went to pass through the boundary of Platform 9 ¾. A deep sigh escaped him somewhat. It seemed that no matter how hard any of them tried they could never become a fully functional family. His parents, his father especially always had the guilt of knowing that they could have stopped their son's suffering, could have prevented his becoming a werewolf. Remus tried valiantly to shake off his depressing thoughts, something that was made a whole lot easier as a certain blue eyed girl walked past him.

Aldara Taylor, more commonly known as Ally, was in what one would call a catastrophic hectic mess. She had well and truly meant to pack the night before but then more important issues had come up that she couldn't ignore. Like what on earth she was going to wear on the day she went back to school that would match with her long blonde hair and blue eyes, and how she should wear her hair and what make up she should have with it. Therefore the packing of such trifle things such as school work had been forgotten, hence the rush right now.

"Ally aren't you ready yet!" her brother Chris yelled from downstairs, frustration though laced with a bit of humour evident in his tone.

"Nearly!" Ally called back, giving up trying to pack things in an orderly manner and was stuffing things in to her trunk higgledy piggledy. She'd almost finished packing everything and was just chucking in the last of her lipsticks when something terrible happened. There was only one thing that she could do.

An ear-splitting scream rent through the house causing Chris, and Mr and Mrs Taylor to come running up to Ally's room.

"What? What is it!" Chris asked in a panic. Ally appeared too distraught for a moment to answer but then she slowly turned around.

"I broke a nail!" she exclaimed and when her parents laughed and her brother rolled his eyes she sought to defend herself. "No you don't understand, they were all perfect and now I'll have to re-do them all before we leave…."

"Oh no you won't" Chris stated. "There is no way we are losing to the other two and I will get you to King's Cross before them". It was Ally's turn to roll her eyes.

"Oh please brother dearest we have beaten them for the past three years in a row, plus you are forgetting the most important point" she stated sweetly with an air of smugness around her. Her brother raised his eyebrows.

"Do you care to enlighten me?"

Ally said just one word that caused Chris's face to break out in to a wicked grin.

"Lia".

Sirius Black glared miserably at his feet. Why oh why couldn't his family just hurry up so he could be off and back to school as quickly as possible? Was it really too much to ask?

Sure they were the most Ancient and Noble House of Black but really what did that matter? They were backstabbing, blackmailing miscreants the lot of them and he couldn't wait to get away.

"Oh Regulus dear I'm just so proud you've gotten your Prefect badge, not like that brother of yours to be sure. You do our family so proud!"

Cue a mental snort from Sirius. Could his younger brother be any more brown nosed? Could his mother be any more simpering? This summer had most definitely been the worst. It would have been unbearable if it wasn't for a visit from one of his uncles who had surprisingly taken a liking to him. Merlin, the house was driving him insane, and he was practically itching to get on to the train and be back with his fellow Marauders.

They were undoubtedly the most popular group of boys in the school, and the pranks they pulled, well in Sirius' eyes they were the best thing ever. Plus there was always the added bonus of having girls surrounding them. A grin settled over his handsome features as his dark black hair fell perfectly in to place, the girls were definitely one of the best perks of being popular.

A sharp, screeching noise that he had become accustomed to, which was in fact the voice of his mother pierced through his consciousness. Taking this as the signal to leave he took a pinch of floo powder and went spiralling to Kings Cross Station. What really surprised him was that his mother had followed him.

"Here you are boy" she hissed nastily before disapparating with a swish of her wand. Sirius glanced at his feet and noticed the envelope she had dropped there. His 6'1 frame (finally a man in Remus' eyes) scooped down to pick it up, but his chocolate brown eyes clouded over in confusion as he read its contents.

He'd been disowned.

Tony ran quickly up the stairs. If they didn't leave now then they'd never get to King's Cross before Chris and Ally. They'd been beaten for three years in a row and he'd be damned if they'd lose again this year. He reached his sisters bedroom and flung the door open and as he took in the sight he gave an incredibly un-manly shriek. She wasn't up. Scrap that – she hadn't even packed yet!

"Karli!" he bellowed and for once his sister jolted awake straight away.

"Wassit?" she said groggily, no where near being awake and her eyes unwilling to open.

"Karli we have to leave in five minutes, if we don't you'll miss the train". This comment definitely woke her up and her eyes snapped open.

"What!" she yelled and attempted to jump out of bed but got tangled in her sheets. "I haven't packed or eaten! I have to eat!"

Tony sighed in frustration before taking his wand out and muttering a spell. All of Lia's belonging quickly flew and packed themselves neatly (for a change) in to her trunk. While this was happening she'd finally managed to untangle herself from the bed sheets. She quickly flung her arms around him.

"Awww Tony you are so the bestest big brother in the whole wide world!" she exclaimed as he hugged her back quickly.

"I'm your only brother" he said dryly. "But get dressed quickly, you're going to have to eat on the way" and with that he hefted up her trunk and left the room.

The journey was quick and soon enough they'd arrived at King's Cross station – at one minute to eleven. They dumped her trunk on a trolley and sprinted to the barrier and crossed through it just as the whistle blew. Tony managed to chuck her trunk on board as she scrambled up with the help of a porter. She turned around quickly to say goodbye, even though the train was quickly gathering up speed.

"Bye Tony, I love you!" she called out to him as he got ever smaller.

"Love you Karli!" was the reply she faintly heard before he disappeared out of sight.

Lily sat worriedly in the compartment she shared with Esmee and Ally, attempting to reassure herself that there was no way Lia could have missed the train. Esmee also seemed troubled but with Ally there was no such sign. In fact she was giggling madly to herself.

"Ally how can you find it so amusing that your own _cousin_ has missed the train?" Lily asked in disbelief. Ally was about to reply when a new voice sounded in the compartment.

"Hi guys! Miss me?"

Lily turned around to see Lia lounging in the doorway her long black hair tied up as usual and her blue eyes full of mirth.

"Lia! Don't you ever do that again you had me so worried!" she exclaimed rushing over to hug her friend.

"Oh c'mon you know I'd never miss the train" Lia grinned hugging Esmee as well, although giving Ally a weird look as she was still giggling madly. "Okay cousin, you've been at the chocolate already?" she asked.

"Nope!" Ally giggled, "I saw you running to get on the train, very amusing I must say, what did you do to be late this time?"

Lia had the decency to blush as she told them all of the morning's events and soon enough they were all seated around laughing and swapping summer stories. As Lily examined her closest friends a thought entered her head and she gazed at Lia, a grin spreading over her face.

"So how did you all find the potions essay we were set this summer?" she asked innocently, trying to choke back her laughter at the different expressions on her friends faces.

Esmee and Ally had identical looks of disgust, whilst Lia's had one of uncontrolled horror.

"Ugh Lils did you have to remind me?" Esmee shuddered. "That was by far the most evil essay we've ever had set"

"Yeah definitely" Ally agreed, "I mean we'd just had our OWL's as well, what on earth was Terp thinking?"

Lily thought briefly back to her OWL results with pleasure, she'd gotten 10 O's just like Lia and Ally and Esmee had gotten 9 O's and 1 E, undoubtedly amongst the highest in the year. Her thoughts were brought back the present by the spluttering noise emitting from Lia.

"Why must you do this to me? What potions essay!" she asked in a complete panic. Ally smirked at her.

"Girl do you ever do work?" she asked, a comment that Lia chose to overlook as a look of concentration showed on her face, showing that she was doing some fast thinking. Her gaze settled on Lily who immediately became suspicious - even more so when Lia quickly plastered a sweet smile to her face.

"Lily my best friend in the whole wide world" she crooned whilst looking hopeful, and despite herself, Lily found herself giggling.

"Alright you can look at it, but no copying" she warned. Lia grinned at her and mumbled "yeah, yeah" whilst rummaging around for a quill and some parchment.

Silence reigned for a moment before Ally decided to tell the others about one of her many summer flings. As Lily had no interest in that she quickly brought out a book to content herself with.

"This guy I met was sooo gorgeous. He was tall dark and looked so mysterious – seriously Esmee one look at him and you'd be in love".

"What's this?" Lia inquired distractedly from her position of writing her essay on the floor.

"Oh just some guy Ally met over the summer. She says its love, I say its lust. But surely you know about him, you and Ally only live a mile apart" Esmee commented. Lia was about to reply when the compartment door slid open and she had to bite back a groan of dismay when she saw who it was. There in the doorway were the four Marauders: James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew. The four of them said Hi with James shooting furtive glances at Lily but only Esmee said Hi back, she'd practically grown up with James. Ally herself didn't like any of them and the only one Lia liked was Remus and she despised Sirius more than anyone knew. Lily needless to say despised James Potter with a fiery passion, especially considering the events that took place at the end of their 5th year, and she only tolerated Remus because he was a fellow prefect along with herself and Peter because he seemed perfectly harmless.

"Hello, goodbye" Ally said coldly.

"Yeah bugger off", Lia added. They looked at Lily as if expecting a reply but she ignored them and continued reading 'Jane Eyre'. Ally also looked at Lily and said;

"That stands for go away and leave me alone if you were wondering".

Sirius spoke first: "You girls could be a bit friendlier to us you know", he said.

"No I don't think so, it would be a wasted effort", Lia said, not taking her eyes off of her parchment. James then continued;

"Yeah we're only looking for a compartment to sit in".

This time Lia pulled out her wand from her pocket. "Look I'm busy so go away now or I'll hex you all!" she said whilst pushing them out of the door. "Hi Remus by the way", she finished, slamming the door in their faces. Back in the compartment Esmee looked a little put out.

"You know you could be a lot nicer to them, they're not that bad – minus Peter who needs to burn in hell".

"Yeah whatever, Remus is the only nice one out of that lot" Lia stated, seating herself back on the floor. Lily finally looked up from the book, trying to calm herself down a bit, just the very sound of Potter's voice made her blood boil.

"Well in my opinion Remus is tolerable and Peter is the only nice one".

This comment was met with stunned silence before Ally decided to break it.

"Yeah, sure, whatever you say Lily, but I can't stand any of them and quite frankly Esmee I think you could seriously be mentally unhinged for being such good friends with Sirius and James. They are by far the worst".

"Okay before any arguments break out" Lia quickly said seeing Esmee beginning to form a retort, "can you all please be quiet, I've an essay to finish!"

The girls smiled slightly at Lia and turned back to what they were previously doing.

Outside of the compartment, half of the Marauders were practically spluttering in shock. James couldn't believe that apart from Lily that Esmee, one of his closest friends was best friends with two girls who in his eyes seemed to be complete bitches. Sirius, slightly peeved from the earlier mornings events, seemed to be in shock for the fact that neither of them had flung themselves at his feet. The girl with the dark hair had especially seemed completely oblivious so his good looks and charm. There was silence for a moment but it didn't last long.

"Can you believe the nerve of that girl? Gees that was so rude, scrap that they were all rude except for Esmee - no offence Prongs but Evans didn't exactly seem to be bubbling with politeness and-" he was cut off mid rant by Remus chuckling to himself.

"Pray tell Moony what is so funny?" James asked.

"Oh nothing, but that was such a typical Lia thing to do".

"Who?" Sirius asked and even Peter had the opportunity to roll his eyes.

"Oh I don't know Padfoot, maybe she's just been someone who's been in the same house as you and all of your classes for the past five years" he piped up. Sirius still looked clueless and James decided to put him out of his misery.

"The girl who was so rude to you" he supplied. Comprehension dawned on his best friends face.

"Oh well never mind, they're just stuck up girls who think they are above us, let's go find another compartment so sit in" he said, not realising how hypocritical he sounded, when he believed that the Marauders were the best thing that had ever happened to Hogwarts. The boys quickly picked up their bags and hauled their trunks behind them further down the train, attracting a lot of attention along the way. It was hardly surprising seeing as they were the most popular boys in the school. After a small amount of fuss concerning a number of Slytherins and some dungbombs, they finally found an empty compartment and collapsed on to the seats, awaiting the food trolley which would soon go past.

By the time the Hogwarts train arrived at the station, Lily had finished her book and Lia her essay and all four of the girls were eager to get to the feast. They all hurried to get to a horseless carriage, after saying a quick hello to Hagrid, the keeper of the keys at Hogwarts, but none of them were all that pleased by who they saw sitting opposite them, neither were those who now had to share a carriage with them.

"Oh great it's the egotistical pricks", Lia muttered darkly to Ally.

"Oh Merlin it's the grovelling rat", Esmee said out loud, looking directly at Peter. He only smiled back adoringly – it was a well known fact that he had had a major crush on Esmee since first year. Esmee shuddered slightly and turned her face away from him and began to talk to James and Sirius.

Lily was trying desperately to keep a hold on her temper as Ally tried to persuade her to wear her hair down, something she never did. It didn't help with the fact that James was sitting less than a meter away from her, something that she found unacceptable. She growled under her breath as he reached up to ruffle his hair, something that completely and utterly infuriated her. Ally looked slightly startled but seemed to take the hint to shut up about the hair, and quickly changed topics. Lia on the other hand was chatting amiably to Remus about his summer. They had worked together on a 'History of Magic' essay in their forth year and she had discovered that unlike Sirius and James he wasn't big headed and was an actual nice person, something all of her friends bar Ally seemed to agree with her on. The carriage jostled to a halt suddenly and all the girls were surprised at how quickly the trip had passed. Lia however wasted no time and quickly ushered her friends out after a quick goodbye to Remus – she was eager to get to the food, as they all were for that matter.

The four of them sat down and waited rather impatiently for the sorting to finish, although they did cheer every time someone was sorted in to Gryffindor. After what seemed like an eternity the plates filled with multitudes of delicious food and they all began to tuck in. For Lia it was practically heaven, she was with her friends once more and doing one of her favourite things – eating. All too soon the feast ended and the Headmaster stood up to make his annual speech. He looked around at them and beamed warmly.

"Another year beginning which I'm sure will be as memorable as the others…." He continued on but Lia and Ally had grown bored. They were gazing up at the enchanted ceiling which at the moment was a clear night sky full of stars. Gazing around the hall they both spilt out in to devilish grins as an idea hit them. Discreetly taking out their wands, they shot a spell over to the Slytherin table without the other knowing, both of them hitting Narcissa Black right on her white blonde hair. The Hall erupted in laughter as Narcissa squealed in dismay the fact that her hair now had turned an alarming mixture of blue and pink. Lia and Ally grinned at each other.

"I love that spell Lily!" they both whispered amidst the laughter that was echoing around the room. Dumbledore quickly quietened everyone down and continued on with his speech.

"I would like to congratulate all of those students who were chosen as perfects", Lily beamed with pleasure "and of course to remind you that the Forbidden Forest is indeed just that – forbidden. Now I am all sure that you are very tired so please make your way to the dormitories, first years, just follow your prefects".

They all trooped outside of the Hall, Lia and Ally bursting into hysterical laughter as they heard Narcissa moaning to her friends and they just beamed at the evil look she sent them. The houses were led by the prefects back to their dorms, and as usual had to wait outside the portrait who commanded;

"What's the password?"

Lily replied "Hobgoblin" and all of the students filed into the Gryffindor common room. They all filed slowly off to bed and on their way up the girls heard Sirius and James talking.

"Hey Padfoot, how'd you turn Narcissa's hair pink and blue? I didn't even see your lips move".

Sirius shook his head and said;

"Wasn't me man – good prank though although it's no where near Marauder standard, if only we knew, we could give them a few tips"

James chuckled his agreement and they disappeared up to the boys dormitories leaving Lily and Esmee to giggle at the looks of muted anger on Lia and Ally's faces. Their annoyance however was forgotten once they reached their dorms and they all seemed to share a collective sigh. There was always one thing to say about Hogwarts – it was great to be home.


	2. Settling in

**Disclaimer: **See first chapter

**A/N: **Hey sorry it took so long for this to be updated, but things have been majorly hectic what with having to work and getting ready to go to university. We really hope you enjoy this chapter though and we'd love to hear your comments. Replies to reviews will be at the end of this chapter.

Chapter 2

Lily blinked slightly as she woke up and it took her a moment to remember where exactly she was, and then a smile spread lazily across her face. She sat up and gazed around before heaving a heavy sigh. It was always the same, it had been for the past five years and it looked like the first full day back at Hogwarts would be no different. Lily scrambled out of bed and went to stand by Esmee's bed, a mischievous gleam in her eyes.

"Esmeeeeee!" she screeched at the top of her voice, giggling loudly as Esmee groaned.

"Leamelone" was the only reply Lily seemed to hear but since the other girls so kindly gave her the duty of waking them up in the morning there was no way that she was going to give in easily. She slowly managed to roll Esmee into a bundle and pushed her off the bed where she landed with a thud on the floor. From her cocoon like bundle and her long ash blonde hair thrown to the side of her face, Esmee looked at Lily and said;

"That. Was. Evil".

Lily however was preoccupied with laughing at Esmee's failed attempts to free herself to bother with a reply. Leaving her struggling friend who seemed to now be finding breathing an issue, the responsible red head made her way over to Ally's bed and dealt with her in much the same way. Lia however was a completely different story. All of the girls had many loves in their lives – for Lily it was reading and studying, for Esmee it was quidditch and matchmaking, for Ally it was makeup and boys and for Lia it was mischief making, eating and sleeping. After the failed attempt of waking Lia up by pushing her off of the bed, Lily decided to be slightly more underhand.

"Help I'm drowning!" Lia yelled as she woke up, thoroughly drenched by the glass of water that Lily had thrown over her. She didn't however receive much sympathy though as her three friends were doubled over in laughter at her bedraggled state. "You three are so going to pay for this", Lia promised but the other three just grinned in return.

They all hurried and rushed to get dressed as they were slightly late for breakfast, and they all knew better then to keep a certain someone from her food. Lily of course was eager to be on time so she could assist Professor McGonagall with the handing out of the time tables. They stumbled in to the Great Hall just on time and the girls quickly seated themselves, Lia wasting no time to start eating and Ally fussing over her looks.

Then the complex task of sorting out the 6th year timetables commenced, with McGonagall going round and talking to all of them in turn about what subjects they wished to pursue and aim to complete at NEWT level. Lily of course being a prefect had to help her and they spent quite a while with the Marauders trying to get some sense out of them, but in the end they all ended up taking all of the subjects needed to become aurors and some additional ones as well. Sirius also ended up taking Astronamy and Care of Magical Creatures, Remus also took Ancient Runes, James also took Divination and Peter took Herbology.

McGonagall designed the four girls' timetables with a slightly secretive smile on her face that confused them, yet they had also taken the subjects needing to become aurors, with both Esmee and Ally taking Divination, Lily taking Ancient Runes and Arithmancy and Lia taking Arithmancy and Care of Magical Creatures. It was a tough work load that no doubt would take a lot more work then they imagined, but it seemed that all of them apart from Lily and Remus were planning exactly how to spend their free periods when they thankfully didn't have lessons. When McGonagall had finished with the 6th years, she handed piles of timetables to Lily and Remus to hand out to the younger students seeing as it was a part of their prefect duty.

Lily rejoined them shortly only to be dragged in to a heated quidditch debate with Esmee as they argued about how their favourite teams were going to do this year in the quidditch season. It always struck Lily how different the muggle and magical world was but she knew given the choice, she could never ever go back to living as an ordinary muggle. Breakfast continued peacefully enough until Esmee stopped in mid sentence, distracted by a loud banging on the table. Lily and Esmee glanced to their right and saw Lia hitting her head on the table whilst Ally patted her _comfortingly_ on the head. All they could hear from Lia was her moaning;

"No, please not double Twerp!"

Twerp of course was her nickname for Professor Terp the potions master who was currently giving her his Extremely Evil Glare, reserved especially for all Gryffindors. Lily giggled to herself at the sight before settling back into a contemplative silence as Esmee attempted to help Ally sort out her waist length light blonde hair – it was no easy thing.

Lily herself always wore her fiery hair in a low ponytail, it would always be an eye catcher but at least like this it didn't attract as much attention. This was also Lia's reasoning, so her waist length black hair was also in a low ponytail. She frequently had arguments with Ally stating she wanted to cut most of it off, but with the murderous gleam that appeared in Ally's eyes at that suggestion, Esmee always pointed out that perhaps it wasn't such a good idea.

Esmee and Ally were undoubtedly the most popular out of the four of them, what with Esmee being good friends with James and Sirius and Ally always having some new boyfriend or another. Lily herself was fairly popular because she always made an attempt to be nice to everyone apart from James Potter – even Slytherins, and because of her Prefect status yet Lia always seemed to manage to elude the limelight, most probably because she ignored the attention if she ever did get it – underneath her go-lucky attitude she was surprisingly shy. Lily however was brought out of her musings all too soon.

"Oi Evans! Did you have a good summer?" a voice yelled at her causing heads to swivel.

"Perfectly fine Potter" she ground out, trying to block out his arrogant smirk, and she almost screamed with annoyance as she saw him ruffling his abysmally messy (in her opinion) hair.

James appeared slightly put out by her reply but managed to keep his grin, although he wisely decided to leave her alone for the time being, and turned his attention back to his friends.

"Merlin could they get any more big-headed, those two just think they are God's gift to women or something" Lia stated with disdain clear in her voice.

"Tell me about it" Ally agreed, "But just look at those bimbo's throwing themselves at them, even _I'm_ not that bad". Ally indeed had a reputation for being a bit of a flirt but she however preferred the guys to make the first move, not the other way around.

Esmee glanced up at the Marauders to see what her friends were talking about and had to suppress a sigh. She was such good friends with Sirius and James and she wanted to stick up for them but looking at their behaviour she couldn't help but feel that perhaps her friends had a point. She frowned slightly though when she noticed James – was it just her imagination or did he seem completely uninterested with the girls surrounding him?

* * *

James to be truthful was actually feeling just a little bit dejected. Lily Evans' words to him at the end of their fifth year had haunted him all summer, and by the tone of her reply to him just now it was clear that her feelings hadn't changed one bit. He gave a heavy sigh and glanced around at the girls surrounding him – one thing was for sure, he now knew that no matter how many girls he dated they could never ever replace Lily Evans, and if he wanted to prove to her that he'd grown up then he'd stop dating them just for the sake of it. He'd just leave them all to Sirius.

He'd been distracted as soon as he entered the hall from talking to Lily straight away first by McGonagall asking about what subjects they were taking and then by one of her friends banging her head on the table. By the reaction of the other three it was apparent that this behaviour wasn't anything out of the ordinary, and if it wasn't how come he'd never noticed before? Thinking hard something all of a sudden clicked. She was the girl who Terp hated more than the Marauders, if he remembered correctly she sometimes got a detention every lesson. He was brought back to reality by a piece of toast being thrown at him and he looked around to find the culprit, only being met with Remus looking at him with a raised eyebrow.

"What?"

"I was just wondering what the frown was for and the toast seemed the only way of grabbing your attention" Remus grinned.

"Oh I was just wondering how come I hadn't noticed Lia's oddities before but then I remembered her from Potions lessons. It's weird how Padfoot and I couldn't remember her" James stated in bemusement.

"Is it now?" Remus asked cryptically and James sank back in to thought once more. There had to be some reason why he didn't know of her if he knew of the others; he'd been in the same house as her for the past five years. All of a sudden a sinking feeling hit him – he knew he didn't remember her because she hadn't been one of the gaggles of girls to be surrounding him or practically worshipping his every move. Apart from them and the other Marauders, James had never really noticed anyone because he didn't deem them important.

Evans was so right about me, he thought, I am the most conceited person ever, no wonder she hates me. A hand on his shoulder jolted him out of his thoughts once more.

"C'mon mate, this is not a time to be moping, there's girls about" Sirius grinned at him before standing up, "Plus" he added pulling a face, "we have double potions to be going to".

James bit back a groan but then started to chuckle, that would indeed explain the banging of head on the table from Lily's friend earlier on.

The four of them made their way down to the dungeons which for some reason always had a musty damp odour about it. Sirius was looking momentarily worried.

"Prongs mate we didn't have any homework for Potions did we?"

"Yeah we did, remember you were planning on planting dungbombs in Terp's private rooms because he was the only Professor to set homework after our OWL's" James reminded him as Sirius groaned in despair.

"Bloody Hell I forgot, help me think of an excuse!" he pleaded but James just laughed at him.

The potions corridor was always permanently dark and cold, this was all oblivious to James though as in his irritation he noticed that the swarm of girls still followed them, giggling and trying to catch his eye. And even worse when they did they fluttered their eyelashes so much he was sorely tempted to ask them if they had something caught in their eyes. Looking around at his friends he saw that Sirius was in his limelight and thoroughly enjoying himself, and Peter looked like he was in heaven. Remus however just had a polite smile on his face yet he looked slightly bored. James began to wonder if Remus felt as irritated as he did, and thought it a good idea to have a chat about it with his wise friend later.

They soon entered the classroom and James bit back a laugh as he noticed Peter try to sit by Esmee but she made a quick escape and dashed forward to sit next to him.

"Please Jamie make him stop!" she pleaded, not bothering with a greeting. "I've told him so many times I'm not interested but he just won't take the hint – can't you help me?"

"Sorry Es but he's smitten – you're just going to have to deal with it" he grinned. Esmee's reply was cut off as Professor Terp swept his way in to the classroom.

"So these are the insubordinate ruffians that somehow managed to make their way through their OWL's in order to continue on with Potions for their NEWT's course. I must say I'm surprised that there are so many of you – no doubt the weaker of you will drop out soon enough" he paused for a dramatic sneer, and many of the Gryffindors, including Peter, gulped in fear. "I will now collect in the essay I set you in the summer before proceeding to teach you about the invisibility potion so you had all better be prepared" he snapped before advancing menacingly to Ally and Lia's table. James and Esmee looked on in interest.

Terp snatched Ally's essay out of her hand practically ignoring her before fixing his glinting eye's on Lia.

"So Smith what's the excuse?" he drawled out.

"Excuse Professor?" Lia said with feigned innocence clearly laced in her voice.

"Yes excuse, the one you're about to give me for not doing your essay".

"But Professor I have no idea what you're talking about" she practically gushed with sugary sweetness; "my essay is right here" she beamed at him before handing it over. He merely narrowed his eyes at her before moving on to torment the next person in line.

It was at that precise moment that James was struck by an epiphany; one of the best ways to get into Lily Evans' good books was to get to know her friends. By gaining their approval he could perhaps be able enlist their help into persuading Lily that he had in fact changed. He was so wrapped up in his idea that he completely missed Sirius being issued detention and on the first day as well which surely must have been a record. He hurriedly whispered his plan to Esmee and a wicked grin spread over her face as she okayed the idea, matchmaking thoughts already beginning to form in her head. After a couple of gruelling hours of potion making, which seemed to fly by for James as he carefully thought out his idea, the bell sounded and James left the classroom feeling a lot happier then when he had entered it.

* * *

Lily made her way to her next lesson which happened to be Arithmancy, and she was practically dragging Lia with her.

"Ack numbers how I do hate thee!" Lia moaned. "Tell me Lils, why exactly did I take this subject again?"

"Because Lia you wanted to take the same amount of subjects as me so it was either this or Divination," Lily said and giggled as Lia gave a mock shudder; "My thought's precisely" she agreed with her friends disgust.

Lily sat with rapt attention as Professor Lewsey proceeded to write figure upon figure on the board and explaining how such processes and equations for many branches of magic was essential. As the Professor finished the lecture and set the class work to do she was quickly distracted by Lia.

"Hey Lils I know I'm not the most observant person around but didn't you think that Potter was behaving differently today?"

Lily's nostrils flared and she narrowed her eyes at the very mention of his name.

"He was behaving exactly like usual, the gaggle of girls around him and him loving every minute of it. And don't even get me started on the messing of the hair…." She trailed off before taking a deep breath. "You know I try to like everyone but he just really takes my patience to the limit, plus Lia we don't have time to chat we've got to do this question".

"Oh the answers 25" Lia muttered absently as she started to doodle little quidditch drawings on her parchment. Silence reigned at their table for all of 30 seconds (a record for Lia, Lily noted afterwards). "Hey Lils, what do you think Ally and Esmee are doing?" Lily giggled slightly at her friend, for someone so clever she really had a small concentration span.

* * *

Ally and Esmee meanwhile were high in the North Tower of Hogwarts in the stifling and suffocating room that was the Divination classroom. Their teacher was Professor Greene, an ageing man whom the entire student population thought senile – even more so than Dumbledore. He rarely made sense and unsurprisingly this led to extremely amusing lessons, except for the rare occasions when he made them work. Unfortunately today was one of those rare occasions and Esmee wasn't enjoying it in the slightest. She and James from an early age had developed a strange liking for the actual subject, just not exactly how Professor Greene liked to teach it.

"Ally my inner eye is broken! I can't see anything in this damn ball"

"Hmm me neither. Oooo maybe it isn't our inner eye but the crystals themselves that aren't working" Ally pondered for a minute before examining her crystal ball more closely and Esmee looked on in interest.

"Hey Ally can you see anything? Merlin's beard you can can't you!" Esmee whispered loudly, despite most people thinking it was a dud subject she actually really enjoyed it.

"No, no don't be daft Es, like _I'd_ ever see anything, I was just wondering if they were real crystals, but I don't think they are" Ally let out a dejected sigh before flipping through her divination book. "Wish we could read some bloody tealeaves, I actually understand them" she muttered under her breath.

Esmee flopped back in her chair defeated – at least that was the plan. She had however forgotten one vital thing….the chairs didn't have backs to them. The result of all this was that she fell smack bang in to James and Ally broke out in to reams of laughter, attracting the attention of the whole class. Flushing scarlet, Esmee muttered an apology and to distract Ally she immediately suggested something that she knew would catch her attention.

"Hey Ally help me think of a way to get Lia and Lily to wear their hair down"

"Esmee that's a great idea! Hey how about we steal their hair bobbles and then place them somewhere they would never think of looking – like the Moon!"

"Ally be serious here for a moment, it's like Lia always tells you – it's impossible to get to the moon!" she exclaimed before taking a deep breath. "But I do like your way of thinking, we should just steal them for a moment….I guess it's obvious with Lily that there's no way they'd be without them for long".

"No I guess not" Ally said sadly, "But I guess them wearing it down for a short time is better than nothing".

They lapsed in to silence once more as they tried and failed miserably to see even a shadow in the swirling mist of the crystal balls.

* * *

That evening the common room was crowded and noisy and Esmee decided to set her plan in to motion, although she decided to leave Lily out of it. At dinnertime James appeared to have had a momentary lapse in his plan to not ask her out until he had the help of her friends, and the result was Lily being in an incredibly grouchy mood. Lia however was cheerful enough and signalling to Ally they both decided to move in on her. Before Lia knew what had hit has Ally had leaped forward and caught her hands as Esmee snatched the bobble from her hair. She gave a shriek of dismay.

"Noooo! This was all a conspiracy and Esmeralda you took it too far!" Lia cried using Esmee's full name – something she knew she despised.

"Oh you think so Karlia? Well come and get it back then!" Esmee yelled back, taunting Lia with the stolen bobble.

Lia leapt up and started chasing Esmee around the room while attempting to avoid people and control their giggles at the same time. Unbeknownst to her though, they had developed two separate audiences. The first were Lily and Ally who were practically on the floor laughing at Lia's look of mock outrage, and it wasn't for the first time that Lily was grateful to have friends who could cheer her up so well. The second were Sirius, James and Remus. Remus was at that moment in time chuckling to himself and James' face held a bewildered look.

"Moony mate you never told me she was insane" he hissed to his friend who just shook his head. He'd filled his fellow Marauders in on his plan earlier and although they all thought it was a good one, none of them could ever see it working and Remus had been especially pessimistic.

"Well I did warn you she was slightly eccentric" he said between chuckles, although he stopped laughing abruptly at the look on Sirius' face.

Sirius had a purely predatory expression on his face as his eyes tracked Lia's progress around the room. All of his angry thoughts seemed to have disappeared as to how rude she'd been the day before, and they were replaced with only one thing. Remus had very bad feeling about this.

"Hey Moony mate her name's Lia right?"

"Um…yes that would be it" Remus said hesitantly, "Why?"

"Oh well I thought I'd better get it right before I asked her out, after all she's one I haven't had yet" he stated with a wicked grin. James also now looked alarmed as he saw that if this went badly it could jeopardise his plan.

"Padfoot you said yesterday you hated her, and you saw that she wasn't interested, don't you think this is a bad idea?" he said hurriedly.

"But that's precisely the point James! She's a challenge and I'm going to have so much fun with her" he chuckled to himself and before either James or Remus could detain him he strolled casually across to where Lia was now on the floor searching frantically for her hair bobble. Esmee however had already bounded over to Lily and Ally who now had grins plastered permanently to their faces.

"Ok I know it was funny but you two look demonic" she quipped.

Lily just nodded in Lia's direction, and as Esmee turned an identical grin appeared on her face as well, this was going to be _very_ amusing to watch.

"Where is it? Where is it!" Lia mumbled frantically just before she spotted it. "Aha!" she cried loudly as she grabbed it and jumped up to her feet and spun around. However her cry of triumph turned into a strangled gasp of horror as she was now face to face with Sirius Black - somewhere she definitely didn't want to be. He however seemed unperturbed with her dismay.

"Hey gorgeous, would you mind if I took a moment of your lovely time?" he grinned at her, turning on his famous _charm_. The affect of his smile was usually overpowering, and even Ally, Lily and Esmee could feel their knees weaken slightly at the sight of that grin on his handsome face. A large amount of the common room had become quiet as everyone's eyes followed Sirius to see what would happen next. Although Lia wasn't known well by many, it was obvious that she wasn't outwardly in the group of bimbo's who worshiped everywhere Sirius stepped so the Gryffindors were intrigued as to how she'd handle the situation.

"Actually you know I would, according to my sources you didn't even know my name until yesterday even though I've been in the same year as you for the past five years so something is clearly wrong. Your egotistical nature is obviously cutting off whatever link there is to what you call your brain but what I'd call a shrivelled prune. So now if you don't mind I'd rather you went somewhere else, the size of your ego is cutting off my oxygen supply" she raised an eyebrow at him awaiting his response. However amidst his many splutterings it was obvious she wasn't going to get one any time soon, and with a disgusted look she turned away from him and all but flounced up to the girls dormitories.

There was a stunned silence for a moment before an outbreak of laughter could be heard from all corners of the common room. Sirius for once actually felt slightly embarrassed as he made his way over to his friends although he made a point of glaring at Remus who was currently doubled over in hysterics.

"Gee thanks for your support" he snapped, yet this in no way curbed the flow of laughter. James however was much more sympathetic. He had just witnessed his friend being turned down for the first time in a very bad way, and he knew only too well how that felt.

"Well Sirius, welcome to the land of the rejects. Lily's done that to me before and she still is - something I'm beginning to think is never going to change".

"That may have happened to you before Prongs but it's never going to happen to me again, that chick will go out with me" he said with a determined look. "No girl has ever turned me down before and she's sure as hell going to be the last. This time next week she'll be eating out of the palm of my hand!" he declared yet looked slightly put out as Remus broke down laughing even more. "Hey it's not that hard to imagine!" he stated hotly as they all made they're way up to the boys' dormitory. "Is it?"

Meanwhile Ally and Lily were still trying to stop laughing.

"That", gasp, "Was", wheeze, "sofunny!" Lily just managed to make herself articulate between bursts of laughter.

"I have never been so proud to call her my cousin before!" Ally cried out gleefully, "Did you _see_ the look on his face! That was priceless".

Esmee had been trying to curb her laughter, knowing that she should be supporting her friend but as she too recalled the flabbergasted look on Sirius' face she succumbed to her laughter and broke in to a fit of giggles.

"C'mon" Lily said eventually with an evil grin, "Let's go and check that Lia isn't too traumatised". And with another outburst of laughter they all dashed up the stairs to either congratulate or console their friend.

As they entered the dorm they could see Lia furiously trying to get her hair back into it's usual ponytail, and she was muttering angrily to herself. She glanced up though as her friends came pouring in still cackling with laughter.

"Hey Esmee", she called, a strange expression appearing on her face, "I know you mean well but please...don't take my hair down ever again, okay?"

Lily noticed that Esmee seemed slightly perturbed by the statement but covered it up quickly.

"Oh okay alright I won't, but you must admit the results were slightly amusing though right?" she queried with a raised eyebrow and a wicked grin. An answering grin soon spread across Lia's face as she giggled evilly.

"I guess so, I mean did you _see_ the look on his face!"

After that there was much shrieking and giggling as they got ready for bed, all of them delighted and reliving the shocked expression on Sirius' face, and all agreeing it had been too long in coming to him.

**A/N:** Well that was the chapter and we both hoped you all enjoyed! Here are the replies to the reviews:

**Dreamy1:** You were our first reviewer! Thank you so much, and we hope this chapter lives up to your expectations, and we apologise for the long wait lol.

**Goldenwolf88:** Thanks for the review! Ack I know what you mean about the work load as well. We really hope you enjoyed this chapter.

We don't know when the next update will be but hopefully we'll get another couple of chapters up before we head of to uni. We'd love to hear any comments from you because they really do help. That's all for now

- Yavanna and SunStar


	3. multicoloured announcements

**Disclaimer:** See first chapter

**A/N:** Hey I'd just like to apologise for taking so long to update this story (and the less said about Dreamers the better), but myself and SunStar have just started our second term at university so we've been settling in and what not, and we've both had lots of work to do, however I do seem to be getting on top of all that now, and I've finished my exams so I have a bit of a break before work starts again, so hopefully over the next couple of weeks I might be able to update more (No Promises though). So without further ado, here is the next instalment of 'Light in my Life' and here's hoping you all enjoy it. Let us know what you think with a signed review, so then we can get back and reply to you. Thank you!

**Chapter 3**

The darkness of the girl's dormitory in the early hours of the morning was broken slightly by a few muffled noises as Lia attempted to make her way through the room as stealthily as possibly without waking anyone up. The castle was silent, and Lia was eager to keep it that way – for the time being at least. It was highly unusual for her to be up that early, wait scrap unusual she was never up that early and it had almost killed her to do so on this particular morning, but she'd had to sacrifice her sacred sleep in order for her plan to succeed. Revenge was necessary for the attempt on her life through drowning by Lily (in a sane persons words: the throwing of water over her), and of course both Ally and Esmee scheming against her to take her hair down the night before.

As she recalled the events of the night before she could feel the anger bubbling up inside of her again and had to struggle to suppress a shudder of disgust. What a jerk that Sirius Black was! Well all I can say is that he better find a new conquest for this week, Lia thought, because he's got absolutely no chance with me. The time was finally right for Lia to carry out her plan, and drawing her wand she quietly muttered the same spell three times, each time pointing it at a completely unsuspecting dorm mates' head of hair. Her task now complete, she climbed back towards her bed, trying her best to stifle the evil giggles that were trying to escape.

Lily woke up groggily and gave a half hearted stretch before struggling to sit up. The site that met her eyes almost made her keel over. Lia was up, dressed and appeared to be working.

"I must still be sleeping…" Lily murmured to herself whilst rubbing at her sleep filled eyes. Lia however just looked up distractedly.

"Nah you're wide awake, I just forgot about this bloody potions question Twerp set us yesterday", cue a grimace from Lia, "so I thought I'd better do it now". There was a strange smile flitting across her face that Lily failed to take warning of, instead she shrugged off the bed covers and made her way over to wake Ally up.

"Hey Ally c'mon wake up, you need to – ohmigod!" Lily trailed off with a shriek, succeeding wonderfully in waking both Ally and Esmee up. "What did you do to your hair?" she exclaimed much to Ally's confusion. Her blonde friend blinked dumbly for a while before her eyes settled on Lily and they widened in shock.

"My hair! Lily, what about yours?" she asked looking over at Esmee for support but when she did she let out a strangled gasp. "Shite Esmee your hair as well! Are you two insane or something? Those colours so do not suit you".

Esmee at this moment was just gaping dumbly at the two of them, and without a word she wondered over and dragged them both to the mirror on Ally's dressing table. What can only be described as the three loudest screams known to human kind followed soon after.

"My hair!"

"Lils did you just say that!" Esmee asked, jolted out of her horror momentarily. Her newly green haired friend blushed crimson.

"Erm no, of course not….it was Ally" she muttered hurriedly, although Ally with her newly charmed pink hair didn't appear to hear either of them.

"It's terrible…I mean I know I like pink – but luminous?" she enquired, mostly to herself.

"I don't know why you're complaining" Esmee grumbled, "At least yours isn't orange".

The three of them were each scrutinizing they're new hair colours when a strange snorting sound seemed to be coming from Lia's side of the room. Looking around they noticed Lia had turned brick red with suppressed laughter, although at the look of surprise on their faces she gave way to a hysterical fit of giggles. Lily, Esmee and Ally's surprise only lasted moments though. They soon took in the fact that Lia's hair had remained untouched and they pieces seemed to click in to place. Lily narrowed her eyes.

"You!" she bellowed, making a mad dash at Lia who in her paralysing state of laughter only just managed to move out of the way. It soon died away however at the murderous expression on her three friends' faces.

"Hey c'mon, I told you yesterday I'd seek revenge and well…" she trailed off with a hopeful grin but it was to no avail. Lily's temper seemed to be making itself known, as did Esmee and Ally's so Lia done the only thing possible. She ran for it.

* * *

James and the other Marauders were all scrambling down the staircase in order to get to breakfast. They had just reached the fireplace – halfway towards the portrait hole when a large amount of screaming could be heard from the girls' dormitories. They all stopped in surprise and exchanged inquisitive glances.

"Hey we didn't plant a dungbomb up there or something…did we?" Sirius asked looking heartily confused.

"No I don't think so, but maybe we should wait around just in case" James said, and gestured that they should hide behind the sofa. If they were in fact the culprits of the crime, they didn't exactly want to be caught. They didn't have to wait long until they heard the sound of running footsteps, however that wasn't enough warning for them as a figure appeared to fly over the sofa and landed on them….well more specifically Sirius.

"Oof!" All the air was pushed out of him as Lia landed heavily on his stomach.

"Oh sorry I…" Lia trailed off when she looked at him, "Oh. It's you" she stated in a not too pleased tone.

"Lia!" someone screeched loudly. "That sofa won't protect you forever!"

James peeked his head over the top of the sofa in interest when he recognised Lily's voice. He had to duck back down straight away though in a vain attempt to hide his laughter at the site Lily and her two friends made.

"Remus help me!" he heard Lia plead but his friend just shook his head.

"No way, sorry girl but I really think you asked for it", he stated catching a glimpse of green, pink and orange making their way over. "If I were them I'd be equally as mad".

James glanced around at his friends and did some quick thinking. Sirius was still gasping for breath, Peter was gaping at Esmee and Remus was trying to wiggle free from Lia's grasp. He suddenly grinned as an idea struck him. He suddenly stood up and faced Lily, Esmee and Ally….bringing Lia with him.

"Here you are Lily, I got the culprit for you", he said and turned his most charming grin on her – or so he thought. Apart from a momentary start of surprise for the fact that he used her first name, he had no affect on her whatsoever.

"Take your hands off of her Potter", she all but snarled, "I can handle this myself". The three very angry girls started to slowly advance on Lia who in vain tried to stutter out some excuses.

"H-honest Lils it really suits you…there's no reason to get so mad, is there?"

With a slight scream of rage all three cast the colour charm on Lia at the same time and she scrunched up her eyes as they hit her. Lily, Esmee and Ally allowed small smiles of triumph to grace their faces at the desired result.

"Now you'll know how horrible it us to have the vilest colour hair in the world" Lily stated which drew a strangled gasp from her formally dark haired friend who at that time had been cautiously patting her head with one eye slightly closed.

"No! Please tell me it's not pink!" she all but shrieked as she spun around to examine her new hair colour in the mirror above the fire place, but a grin soon spread across her face and she sauntered over to her three friends.

"Girls, girls how often do I have to tell you? I love the colour blue and now I have three different shades in my hair – this is great!" she jumped around the room a bit before finally paying attention to her stomach and leaving to go and get some breakfast.

Lily, Esmee and Ally were left standing in slight shock and annoyance.

"Damn it why do we always forget!" Ally pleaded aloud looking highly disgruntled.

"Well I guess this is the reason why she is the prank queen. Wow have you noticed how we all have our own titles? Lia – the prank queen, you Ally the hair and make up queen and you Lils the queen of the worst temper and of course my wondrous being the match making queen. Hmm this is intriguing…" and with that she wondered away after Lia.

Ally quickly followed after and Lily was left there spluttering to herself.

"I do not have the worst temper of all of us!" she finally managed to shriek out turning slightly red, and her nostrils flaring. She jumped in shock as an arm was flung about her shoulder

"Sure you have Lily flower" Sirius grinned in to her face, "Ah look there you go, glaring at me and turning almost purple, honestly it's such a pleasure to annoy you" he informed her with a cheeky grin before boldly pecking her on the cheek and sauntering out with the rest of the Marauders following out behind him.

Lily stood there in shock for a moment trying to gather her scattered thoughts. It wasn't the hair colouring or even Sirius that had sent her in to turmoil. It was the bane of her existence – Potter – that had. This had to be the first time since their third year that he hadn't asked her out when she'd been in his presence and she had no idea what to make of it.

Well, she thought giving herself a mental shake, It's about bloody time he stopped doing it, finally it must have penetrated his thick scull that I am not interested in him. Then with a determined set in her shoulders she left the common room to go to Ancient Runes, realising with a sigh that she'd missed breakfast.

* * *

James was feeling highly disgruntled. He hadn't realised just how hard it was going to be to not ask Lily out every time he saw her. It was now dinner time and all day he'd been fighting the urge to ask her, the image of how she'd looked that moment engraved in his mind. Even with her new green hair she was beautiful to him, and the way her hair waved, and how her cheeks slowly turned red with rage when she got annoyed, and when her nostrils flared was just so –

He was abruptly brought out of his mental musings as a piece of toast hit him in the head. That's strange, he thought, why's there toast at dinner time? I thought it was only served at breakfast…. He shook himself visibly and glanced up to see all of his friends looking at him as though expecting something.

"What?"

Sirius heaved a huge fake sigh of despair and flung an arm around his best friend's shoulders.

"I see how this is going to be. Remus is forever going to have to waste his toast on gaining your attention" he stated with a small shake of his head.

"And how pray tell is that a waste? I would have thought that gaining my attention is worth much more then a crummy piece of toast" James said with a smirk gaining some chuckles from his friends.

"Course it is James" Remus said dryly, "But seriously-" he paused to glare at Sirius as though daring him to say anything "We've been trying to talk to you all dinner but you seem lost in the land of Lily" he grinned as he saw a blush spread across James' face and knew his assumptions to be correct.

James somehow managed to grin sheepishly at all of them.

"Sorry guys I was just thinking back to this morning and everything…" he trailed off with a helpless smile, knowing he was well and truly besotted with Lily Evans and nothing was going to change that.

"Yeah I know what you mean mate, that's one weird chick" Sirius stated before shovelling more food in his mouth.

"Who, Lily?" Peter asked, taking the words right out of James' mouth.

"No, no my newest conquest" Sirius said with a grim frown and a wave of his hand indicating further down the table to where Lia was sitting. Remus choked slightly on his pumpkin juice.

"Your newest _conquest_!" he exclaimed in shock, "Padfoot mate I hate to sound pessimistic but really you should give up before you even start….you've no chance with her" Remus stated but regretted it almost immediately as an incredibly determined look settled on Sirius' face.

"No chance eh? We'll see about that. But really she is weird…..any other chick would have freaked at their hair being turned three different colours of blue but she loved it…it's strange I'm telling you…." He trailed off and absentmindedly started eating although on occasion accidentally missing his mouth and smearing mashed potatoes on his cheek.

James, Remus and Peter were all doubled over in silent laughter and the sight he presented them but he was oblivious to all as he was deep in thought as to how he would next approach Lia. Their laughter was cut short however by a huge crack resounding through the hall but as they glanced round none of them could see where the noise had come from and it was only then they realised that the Headmaster had been stood for a few minutes, waiting patiently so that he could address them all.

* * *

Lily stared in disbelief at her friends, wondering not for the first time today when exactly it was that they had all lost their sanity….not that they had had much of that to begin with. Esmee was at that point staring off into space, her eyes intent on something only she could see and every now and then a slightly disturbingly evil sounding chuckle would escape her and an excited gleam would spark in her eyes. It definitely did not bode well.

Lia and Ally were at that point in time having an argument over food, rather foolish on Ally's part, because it was a well known fact that nothing, absolutely nothing came between Lia and her food. The piece of food in question being fought over was the last slice of Hogwarts' delicious apple pie. It sat there looking the picture of innocence, completely unaware of the conflict it was causing. The argument between the two cousins was slowly becoming more heated and Lily glanced around quickly to see if anyone was taking any notice. To her relief no one was yet she was struck by the odd silence that was beginning to spread through the hall and finally noticed that Professor Dumbledore was stood up and awaiting silence, and seemed to have been doing so for some time.

"Er..guys? You two…we need to listen to Dumbledore".

Her rather tentative remark went completely unheard as both girls lunged for the plate. To their dismay however all of the plates at that point disappeared back down to the kitchens, yet the momentum from the two of them carried them forward until they collided head on. Lily winced at the crack that resonated through the hall, yet couldn't help chuckling at the site of her two friends half moaning half glaring at each other as they slowly rubbed their heads. It definitely had to have hurt.

"My thanks Miss Taylor, Miss Smith" came the slightly amused voice of Professor Dumbledore. The two girls looked sheepishly at each other but then focused on the Headmaster; he'd finally gotten the silence that he had been waiting for.

"Worry not, I shall not detain you for long I just have a small announcement to make to you. It has come to my attention that already a few harmless pranks have started to get out of hand", he paused slightly and glanced at Lily and the others with a meaningful look, his blue eyes twinkling over his half moon spectacles. Lily, Esmee and Ally were looking slightly unhappy at the state of their hair, yet Lia just grinned unabashedly back at him. "That is why", he continued, "I have decided to find out who are the three main instigators so that they are able to moderate the amount of these pranks that they do".

At this point the Marauders were looking very uncomfortable, as was Lia. She'd already set yet another prank in motion and knowing her luck, the timing of it would not be set to her advantage.

Professor Dumbledore then waved his wand and muttered a quick incantation that resulted in James, Sirius and Lia being forced to their feet. There was confusion then throughout the Great Hall, especially at the Gryffindor table because everyone had been expecting Remus to be the third culprit. Ally waved an accusing finger at Lia.

"Lia, I expected better of you".

"Really? Well I bet Professor Dumbledore would be most interested in who my partners in crime are".

"No need to go that far Lia", Esmee said, quickly elbowing Ally in the ribs to get her to shut up.

Above where they were standing a smoky figure had begun to appear. Above Lia's head was the number 499, and she glanced over at the two Marauders to see just how far behind them she was. James was on 501 and Sirius on 502. A grin of slight satisfaction broke out on her face. She was almost equal to the Marauders and yet she'd managed all this time to go undetected. Her grin however grew as she saw Sirius and she burst into peals of laughter. Everyone in the Great Hall looked at her in confusion yet all she could do was point at him and then double over laughing again. It wasn't long before others started to laugh as well.

* * *

James and Sirius had been looking at Lia with a new found respect. They'd had no idea that she'd done so many pranks. A thought hit James suddenly as he recalled a comment Esmee had made earlier on that day.

"Wow the prank queen….", he murmured to himself then spoke up to Sirius, "Remember Esmee said she was the prank queen, I guess this is what she meant".

Sirius however wasn't listening to him. He was looking decidedly uncomfortable under Lia's laughing and mocking stare. Also the added fact that the rest of the Hall was starting to laugh at him wasn't doing much to ease his discomfort.

"Hey Prongs mate why are they laughing at me?" he whispered to his friend and rubbed his chin in confusion. His hand stopped abruptly as he felt something wet and gooey stuck to his cheek. "What the hell is this!" he exclaimed and the rest of the Hall started laughing all the more.

"I think you may have missed your mouth a couple of times", Remus replied, not even attempting to hold back the laughter. The sight of the usually suave Sirius with mashed up food on his face was a much too funny opportunity to miss. With a slight amount of chagrin Sirius quickly wiped his face clean and turned to glare at Lia. Her laughter seemed to have subsided a bit and she was staring with a small amount of horror at the Slytherin table.

Confused by her expression, both James and Sirius turned to look as a large commotion broke out at the Slytherin table. However only a few seconds had passed before they broke down laughing. Aulus Malfoy, Severus Snape, Robert McNair and Barty Croutch had all leapt to their feet shrieking as their voices had magically changed. Instead of the deep baritone they should have been they were high and squeaky like a six year old girls.

There was a loud 'poofing' noise and the two boys glanced back to see the number above Lia's head change from 499 to 500. She appeared to be in the throws of a great struggle, trying her hardest to look abashed at being caught but the sound of the Slytherin boys' squeaking became too much for her and she broke down laughing. She didn't even stop when McGonagall approached them all with a very dangerous frown on her face. It was clear that whatever was about to be said to them, wasn't going to be good.


	4. Year long assignments

**Disclaimer:** See first chapter

**A/N: **woo are we amazing or what? We updated really quickly for you! Well…quickish anyway. And we made this chapter longer and a little different. Instead of keeping it to just James and Lily's point of view we've kind of added everyone's in or tried to, although some of the more boisterous characters (Lia and Sirius) do sometimes tend to take control. Let us know if you prefer it this way, or whether we should just stick to Lily and James' p.o.v's. We really hope you like this chapter, and apologies for any typos, and if you leave a review we promise to reply to you as soon as we can. Thanks!

Yavanna and SunStar

Chapter 4

"…all three from own house; never have I felt so ashamed!" Professor McGonagall was yelling. The three students had been in her office for over twenty minutes and Lia was starting to feel more bored than embarrassed, although she wasn't exactly helping matters by breaking off into giggles every times she caught sight of Sirius; he still had some food smeared around his mouth. Glancing back at the two Marauders and once again stifling some giggles, Lia couldn't help but notice that James also appeared to be lapsing in to a world of boredom- it was quite clear he'd heard this lecture from McGonagall a great many times. The Head of Gryffindor's voice seemed to fade into the background slightly as Lia already began planning her next prank. It would have to be smaller than usual and she'd have to be more careful as to not get caught of course, but Lia knew she could pull it off.

"Did you think it clever? Are you all proud of yourselves?" McGonagall said snapping Lia back to attention. She shook her head trying to feel ashamed again, but the looks on both James and Sirius' faces clearly said that they were proud.

"Black, wipe that smirk off your face now or I'll do it for you".

"Minerva are you threatening me?" Sirius asked with mock innocence. James was shaking his head – now was definitely not the time for Sirius to act like Sirius.

"Amusing Mr Black, but you are in no position to behave the way you usually do, therefore I suggest you stop now" McGonagall answered him in ever increasing frosty tones.

Lia found herself trying to choke back her laughter yet again. Professor McGonagall had clearly had many run ins with the Marauders and knew how to handle them. Of course Lia had noticed how Sirius acted – who couldn't? – but she was surprised that he didn't get into more trouble for his laid-back disrespectful attitude towards the Professor's of Hogwarts.

"Between the three of you, you have cast 1503 pranks during school time, and from now on you will all be closely watched and put on report" McGonagall said with a hint of steel, although it was obvious she was coming to the end of her meeting with them.

Jams stroked his chin thoughtfully – '1503? Not bad' he thought with a grin beginning to spread over his face and was brought back to reality as he heard Lia speak.

"But Professor, we're not the only ones who pull pranks –it's not going to be us all the time".

"No, but tonight's spell has proved that 9 times out of 10 it will be. I'm especially disappointed in you Ms Smith. I expected better from you as did the other Professors. You shall be awarded two weeks detention" Professor McGonagall concluded professionally.

Lia's mouth was hanging open and she knew she didn't look very gracious. For the past five years she'd relied on her good image with the Professor's to have the free movement necessary to complete her pranks and now she'd lost that. The two Marauders were smirking slightly at her as it seemed that she was getting the worst of it. Lia put a stop to that instantly.

"But Professor, surely dumb and dumber over here shouldn't get away with this either. I mean, they were worse than me", Lia finished with a slightly triumphant look as the smirks were wiped of the two boys' faces.

James and Sirius glared at Lia with a look bordering on hatred. The new found respect they had felt towards her disappeared but Lia didn't care; she merely smiled sweetly at the both of them.

"No they shall not. You two shall also serve two weeks detention, and I hope you put a stop to your childish amusements. Go to your common room now and I sincerely hope for your sakes that we needn't be speaking of this again", McGonagall finished, sending a final glare their way.

The three sloped off not saying anything to one another as they walked down the stone corridors that were lit only by guttering torches, yet the furious glares Sirius and James gave Lia spoke louder than words. Lia smiled slightly at their behaviour – she was loving annoying Sirius and knew she'd injured his pride immensely the night before, and felt that this was only the beginning.

* * *

Sirius watched silently as Lia went the opposite way to the boys and up to the girls' dormitories. How could one of Esmee's friends irritate him so much? 

"James man, I really don't like that chick, she's too damn annoying for her own good. And getting us into trouble with McGonagall like that was out of order" he grumbled loudly.

"Sirius we were already in deep with her, the girl had nothing to do with it", James said, knowing that Sirius was mainly angry with Lia because she'd publicly humiliated him the night before.

"We could have pulled it off", Sirius continued, "used the old Black and Potter charm" he finished grinning at his best friend.

"Maybe, but what was the deal with calling McGonagall by her first name? I know you usually do it but that wasn't the time", James pointed out.

"Jamie, McGonagall acts all cold and strict but she isn't really – she loves us!" Sirius declared trying to defend himself.

"I highly doubt that. She was really pissed off – and don't call me Jamie"

"Esmee calls you that all the time! And what are you saying? No more pranks because McGonagall got mad at us?" Sirius asked in disbelief which was quickly met by a snort from James.

"Hell no – what would come of Hogwarts if the Marauders retired?"

"The school would fall into ruin, Albus would have a heart attack" Sirius chuckled joining in.

"The Ministry would fall into shock and despair" James continued.

"Hell, we're the ones who are going to keep that lot on their toes in the future", Sirius finished, leaving the two friends in hysterics.

James opened the door to their dorm and saw that Remus and Peter were waiting for them.

"Merlin you guys have been ages! Did McGonagall really lay it on thick?" Remus asked.

"Nah, besides we would've gotten away with it if that chick hadn't have stepped in", Sirius said, his chocolate brown eyes darkening. James rolled his eyes at his friend and Remus looked sceptical.

"So…it was because of Lia you got detention?" he asked.

"Yeah more or less Moony!" Remus just laughed at that.

"Sirius do you really believe that?" Peter asked.

"Sure I do. Jamie tell them the truth" Sirius complained, not liking it that his friends weren't believing him.

"Sirius you know it isn't the truth – and stop calling me Jamie!" he yelled in reply.

"I had Minerva wrapped around my finger" Sirius continued stubbornly, "two days detention at the most! Not two bloody weeks", he sighed mournfully. This however made Remus chuckle harder. "Remus I don't see what is so funny, Jamie and I could've pulled it off".

"Like I said before, I highly doubt that, and if you call me Jamie once more you will seriously regret it" James threatened.

Sirius quickly swapped his mournful expression for a mischievous one. He loved a challenge.

"Why does it bother you so much Mr Potter? Esmee calls you it all the time" he pointed out.

"I let Esmee call me 'Jamie' because she's my best girl friend and from her it sounds sweet. From you it sounds creepy and patronising" James complained.

"Well _Jamie_ what are you gonna do about it?" Sirius asked with a chuckle.

James' answer was to grab Sirius around the waist and pushing him to the floor with such force that all of the air was knocked out of him. They kicked, scrambled, swore and laughed which wasn't unusual for them.

"Okay guys you've had your fun now get up and grow up", Remus said trying to get them to be sensible for a change – it didn't work. Sirius and James looked at one another with identical grins on their faces and in seconds Remus was also tackled to the floor and joining in. They were all laughing and when Remus said "James get your knee out of my back", it only made them laugh harder.

Peter who was stood observing in a corner looked down and sighed. He wished he could be as involved and as much fun as his friends, but he knew he couldn't pull it off. When Remus told him to join in, he merely smiled tolerantly and said, "Not really my thing", and walked out of the dorm. The others didn't really take much notice of his leaving, like no one ever did.

The three remaining Marauders continued wrestling with each other for a while longer until they all collapse don the floor, completely out of breath. It was then that Remus remembered something that he'd been meaning to ask Sirius before the play fighting had broken out.

"Hey Padfoot, if you don't really like Lia all that much now, are you still erm….going to pursue her?" he asked tentatively, hoping for Lia's sake that Sirius had very much now decided against it. The answer came back to him very quickly and it definitely wasn't what he wanted to hear.

"Of course I am! Moony mate I may not like her, but don't you see; that'll make my conquest of her all the better! She's far too proud you know" Sirius replied matter of factly, and Remus and James could see his expression become slightly vacant again as he began thinking of ways to win the dark haired girl over. Remus sighed and shook his head before turning to James.

"Prongs what about your plan of befriending her? You don't really seem to like her all that much at the moment so it's hardly going to work now is it?" he pointed out reasonably.

"I dunno Moony" James sighed, "I mean we would've ended up with detention anyway but she didn't really have to point it out to McGonagall. I guess getting in to her good books won't be as easy as I first thought" he finished mournfully. At the sight of his dejected friend Remus decided to take pity on him.

"Not to worry James, I'll try and help as much as I can" he promised, hoping that Lia wouldn't hurt him too much when she found out what he was trying to do.

* * *

"Lia do you honestly believe that Jamie and Sirius would've gotten away without punishment?" Esmee asked with one eyebrow raised. 

"Well…maybe. No, yeah they would have! Sirius had her wrapped around his little finger!" Lia replied stubbornly.

"Lia, this is McGonagall we're talking about – she doesn't do 'no' punishments" Ally reported. Lia knew that her cousin was right. McGonagall, apart from Terp, was the strictest Professor in the school and there was no way they would have gotten off lightly – but it was fun to annoy Sirius and James.

"Okay so they would've been punished – but it was fun to see the way they looked when they thought they were going to get away with it and then realised they weren't" she said smirking. They all laughed.

"Hey Esmee, you know Sirius the best – why does he call some of the teachers by their firs names?" Lia asked curiously. Esmee shrugged her shoulders whilst sucking on a sherbet lemon.

"Because he's Sirius and its how he acts" she answered simply.

"Gee thanks for pointing that out for me, I never would have guessed", Lia said sarcastically causing Lily to snort in laughter.

"You know what I mean Lia. He's the joker and they know that. Plus aside from Jamie and our Lils, he's the brightest student we have, along with you of course" Esmee added hastily as she saw Lia narrowing her eyes. "So you see he has to be tolerated" she concluded.

"But he's so disrespectful, and he rarely gets punished for it. Well he would from Terp and the other strict Professors – discluding McGonagall apparently – but that's not the point".

Lily, Ally and Esmee were all lying on their beds facing Lia, Esmee wearing a particularly amused expression.

"This is fascinating, please continue", she said. Lia scowled but carried on and started listing all of the points she hated about Sirius on her fingers.

"He's arrogant, cocky, annoying, disrespectful, egotistical", she paused to take a breath, "rude, obnoxious, sexist-"

"Lia", Esmee cut her off, "he's honestly not that bad, why don't you take the time to get to know him?" Lia snorted at that particular comment.

"Yeah, I don't think so- the day I get to know Sirius Black will be the day I become blonde and lose all self respect and intelligence", she said – then looked sheepishly at Esmee and Ally who glared angrily at her, whilst Lily was almost falling off her bead from laughing.

"Oops – sorry" Lia said innocently.

"Ptch! The hell you are" Esmee said knowing her friend too well.

"You know what I mean – the bimbo's that are always around him" Lia stated trying to explain.

"His fan-club you mean?" Lily supplied for her.

"Exactly"

They all got ready for bead and heard Lia mutter, "Sirius Black stands as much chance with me as a snowball does in hell". Esmee giggled to herself – a scheme already taking form.

* * *

The usual 'getting-up' routine took place with all the girls apart from Lily, lying dishevelled on the floor muttering curses and trying to get up without breaking something. Duvets could be dangerous. 

Lily surveyed the damage around the room. There were books on the floor where Ally had not only taken her duvet to the floor, but also most of the contents of her side table, and Lia's bed was nearly sideways as Lily had to use a lot of force to get her up. Lily shook her head; a lot of force. Esmee again was tangled up in her blanket trying to fight for some air. Lily shook her head again. 'These girls are hard to wake up', she thought before a grin broke out on her face. There was always one benefit of being the first up – the hot water was hers!

-In the boys dorm-

Sirius, much to his friends dismay, was on the rare occasion the first of them to get up, and being the most manic, such instances were never a good thing. He took it upon himself (like Lily) to be the one to wake the remaining Marauders up, and like the girls, they usually found themselves waking up face to face with the cold, wooden floor. This morning was no exception.

He cast his eyes around the room looking for his first victim. His eyes fell on Peter's still body and he grinned evilly. 'We have a winner!' he thought eagerly to himself. He looked around the room, finding his wand at last on the floor in the bathroom – why it was there he didn't know.

He pointed his want at Peter and mumbled "_Wingardium Leviosa_", remembering the swish and flick motion that Professor Flitwick had taught them in the first year in charms. Peter rose steadily above his bed and then moved to the left where the floor was eagerly awaiting. Sirius moved his wand to Remus who happened to be his next victim, leaving Peter suspended in mid-air for the time being.

Doing the same to Remus he quickly moved to the final Marauder, James. When they were all suspended above the ground, Sirius moved his wand to the floor and clapped his hands – ending the spell and leaving his friends to crash to the floor in unison. They all groaned in pain and anguish, but Sirius congratulated himself on a prank well done.

"What happened?" Peter asked groggily.

"Bloody Sirius! That's what happened!" Remus yelled.

James who usually would have laughed, but it was too early, glared at his friend and said "That was evil".

Sirius merely did a little victory dance and ran to claim the hot water in the bathroom.

* * *

'Finally a good lesson' Lia thought as she made her way down to the grounds for her Care of Magical Creatures lesson. It was one of the only lessons she enjoyed. Professor Kettleburn was talking about Unicorns and their magical uses, but Lia, as usual wasn't listening, not because she didn't enjoy the lesson but because she'd already read up on unicorns. She did however pay attention when their class assignments were given. 

They were to research an interesting magical creature for a year and at the end give a verbal report- that was bad enough. As to not make it 'too difficult' as Kettleburn put it, they were also to be assigned a partner. For some unknown reason, Lia began to feel a slight sinking feeling in her stomach – a bad omen if ever there was one.

The Professor began pairing them off and much to her dismay she realised he was pairing them off according to their houses. A sickening thought struck her. There was only one person in this class that was from Gryffindor. There was no way that this could be happening to her.

"And the last couple are Sirius Black and Karlia Smith" the Professor finished, looking alarmed at Sirius' groan of despair. Even though he wanted to try and get Lia 'eating out of the palm of his hand' he truly didn't feel that he was up to working with her due to her 'know-it-all tendencies' as he deemed them. Lia wasn't reacting too well either.

"Professor, I'm sorry but I think I've been struck with temporary deafness, could you repeat yourself please?" she asked hopefully.

"Yes dear of course. Karlia Smith and Sirius Black".

The bell suddenly rung then signalling the end of the lesson, and Lia hurried away to put some space between her and Sirius, the both of them looking as miserable as each other. On the bright side, things couldn't get any worse, or so she thought.

* * *

Things had gotten worse. It turned out that Lia wasn't the only one who'd had a bad day. Lily's Ancient Runes class had been sheer hell, and the work a nightmare, leaving her dreading what work would be coming her way next. Then she'd reached the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom and Lia had filled her, Esmee and Ally in on the plight that she now found herself in. Whilst Esmee and Ally had found the whole thing hysterical, Lily had felt a sense of foreboding, little did she know it was the exact same feeling Lia had experience earlier. 

"Oh dear Merlin I'm having dejavu" Lily heard Lia gasp next to her and she groaned as she saw what was written on the board. A year long assignment with a partner discovering the facts about the Unforgivable Curses. Please please please let me be with one of my friends, Lily prayed silently.

It all seemed to happen in slow motion to Lily. Remus and Ally were paired together, with Remus giving her friend a hesitant smile and Ally not even bothering to hide her dismay at not being able to work with Amos Diggory, who she'd had a crush on for ages. Esmee was then assigned to working with Peter, and despite her loud protests the Professor didn't relent in her decision. Then the dreaded words were spoken.

"Lily Evans and James Potter".

That was all it took. Lily's shoulders slumped in complete dismay and she began banging her head on the desk in front of her. It seemed to be the only way she could cope. She was distracted from self inflicting pain onto herself by Lia's loud shrieking.

"Oh come on what's wrong with you people! Are you trying to torture me!"

"Yeah come on Jill this is child abuse" Sirius declared, using the Professor's first name and causing laughter to erupt through the room and for Lia to scowl at him.

Professor Scarlett on the other hand looked taken aback.

"Do you two not like each other?" she asked.

"No Professor they love each other", Esmee said sarcastically before either Lia or Sirius could reply. Her sarcasm was wasted however as the Professor smiled and said;

"So what's the problem?"

"No problem Professor – you know how Sirius and Lia like to joke around", Esmee continued, causing looks of hatred to come her way from Sirius and Lia, but she was too upset and angry about being paired up with Peter to care.

"Good because you two will be spending a lot of time together", Professor Scarlett stated.

"You have no idea" Esmee laughed before the bell rung yet again, signalling the end of the lesson.

* * *

'Potions, bane of my life, thorn in my side, fires of hell' Lia thought miserably. Things just couldn't get worse. Damn! Now she'd jinxed herself, the lesson was going to be awful, more so than usual. She walked into the classroom and took her usual place between Ally and Esmee, that was until Professor Terp yelled at her. 

"Smith! To the front of the room where I can keep an eye on you!" he bellowed.

Lia got up muttering curses.

"Black! Potter! You too".

The curses got darker.

When they were forced to sit either side of her she started banging her head on the table, murmuring "why me?"

"You three trouble makers will sit together so that I can watch you carefully. Anymore pranks and I shall make sure you're all expelled", he said coldly. Lia was then stuck by an idea, it was brilliant!

Professor Twe-Terp" she quickly amended, "Do you think it wise to keep all of us together? I mean, if we're such trouble makers shouldn't you be separating us?"

Terp turned slowly to face Lia.

Ware you questioning me? 3 days detention!" he spat out angrily.

Stupid idea! Stupid, stupid! But Lia's mouth pushed on.

"I was merely stating the obvious!" she exclaimed.

"A week's detention for insolence!" the professor roared at her going scarlet in his anger.

James was staring at her in shock; it appeared Sirius wasn't the only person in Hogwarts who didn't know when to keep their mouth shut.

"She just doesn't know when to stop does she" Ally stated.

"Nope, never" Lily agreed.

* * *

Esmee and Ally were in the Gryffindor common room later that evening when Lia and Lily stormed in, throwing their bags on the floor. No wait, Lily's wet on the floor, Lia's nearly through the window. 

"…so we went to the library to discuss our project and the guy was practically coming on to me the whole time!" Lily was yelling.

"What's this?" Ally asked with interest.

"Lils went to meet Potter in the library and he thought he might try for extra credit and put the moves on her" Lia explained and Ally gasped in shock.

"Lily are you sure?" Esmee questioned feeling puzzled, that wasn't what James' plan was at all.

"Of course I'm sure! Jerk! He'd better keep his intentions to himself or he'll find my knee in an uncomfortable place", Lily finished moodily, her nostrils flaring in her trademark sign of anger.

"This has been the worst day of my life!" Lia yelled. "Not only have I had to sit in between the two most egotistical gits in this whole damn school, but I have to work with one of them on not one, but two year long projects!", she said, her voice rising in hysteria. Lia was attracting a lot of attention but for once she didn't care. Didn't anyone understand how much she hated him? Did anybody even care?

Her friends were looking at her with sympathetic expressions on their faces because all of them were in the same position. Esmee detested Peter, Lily despised James and Ally disliked Remus immensely. But Lia didn't want sympathy. She needed to cool off and try to regain her composure.

"I'm going to the kitchen – I need food therapy", she said, flouncing out of the room angrily. Lily and Ally quickly got up and went after her, but Esmee went to see James and Sirius first, who looked extremely annoyed and angry with the days events.

"Good luck", she said simply and added to James; "Jamie, come and see me tomorrow. I haven't spoken to you in ages", she winked at him then and he raised his eyebrows. It was the signal she gave when she had a plan.

"Sure thing", he said, watching her leave to go after her very angry friends.


	5. Agony Uncle and decleartion of War

**Disclaimer**: See first chapter

Chapter 5

"Esmee, you, Sirius and I have been best friends since we were little, so trust me when I say _don't meddle_" James was saying, trying to keep his frustration with his blonde female friend under wraps. They were seated at the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall, where Esmee was in the middle of trying to win James over to agreeing with her master plan.

"But Jamie, don't you think it's a good idea?" Esmee asked with an irritated roll of her violet eyes.

"No, I don't. Sirius isn't a one woman guy – you know that. Now, I know I used to be bad (ignoring Esmee's "that's an understatement"), but he's much worse – look at him now".

Esmee turned around to see Sirius flocked by his usual fan club, but he didn't appear to be minding. He had one arm draped casually around one girl, and another arm around her friend's waist. They both looked happy enough and giggled along to everything he was saying. Esmee rolled her eyes again, turning back to James who still had his eyes on the bimbo's.

"Jamie that proves nothing" Esmee complained, flicking her long hair behind her shoulders.

"I know, but it looks fun", he answered, his hazel eyes lighting up in a spark of new interest as a brunette quickly joined the crowd surrounding Sirius.

"God you two are as bad as each other!"

Upon hearing this, James turned to Esmee wearing his famous lopsided grin that he knew could turn arguments to his advantage.

"Don't look at me like that Jamie, it won't work", Esmee declared, but felt herself weakening.

"Esmee, we're guys – teenage ones at that – we're allowed to have fun and be reckless" James stated.

"Not with five girls at once you're not!" Esmee yelled in disbelief but James only laughed. With a gleam entering her eyes, she decided to play her trump card. "Anyway James what's happened to your brilliant plan? I thought you were laying off other girls so you could win the heart of dearest Lily". Esmee had to stop herself from laughing out loud at the expression on James' face.

It looked as though he'd been smacked around the head with something smelly and fortunately unidentifiable. It was plain to see that he'd completely forgotten about that plan, yet he quickly tried to hide that fact, pulling an attempt of a jovial grin on to his face.

"The plan is still intact Esmee, I was just testing to see if you'd notice", as Esmee opened her mouth to make a suitable sarcastic comment at this point, James rushed on. "Besides you love me really, and those girls mean nothing to him, they're not the one he wants", he said, regretting it almost instantly at the spark of mischief that sprung up in her face, and he tried desperately to keep his face blank.

Esmee meanwhile was studying his face closely, trying to detect a clue from him, but to her dismay he was giving nothing away.

"So…do you think there's a chance for him and Lia then?" she waited patiently for James to stop laughing but it was taking too long so she gave him a quick kick in the shins. As she ignored his look of annoyance and slight pain, he sighed and said;

"Esmee, up until a few days ago he didn't even know who she was and even then they didn't get off to the best of starts".

"What do you mean?" she asked curiously.

"Well first off she is the first ever girl to reject him, and then there's the fact he blames Lia for us getting detention and looking like idiots in front of McGonagall" James explained as though pointing out the obvious.

"But you do that by yourselves" Esmee said sweetly, in complete contrast with the warning glint in her eyes at James' tone of voice.

"Charming. Also he's not best pleased with getting partnered with her – twice".

"Really? Because when he was yelling, 'it's child abuse!' I thought he was giving off the love signal" Esmee said sarcastically. She glanced up at the ceiling that was now taking form of an angry, thunderous sky and sighed; they had Quidditch practice later, and in the weather that was now being promised, it wasn't going to be fun.

"Listen, stop meddling with things. I'm going over to see Sirius", James said hugging Esmee before turning to leave.

"Ptch, see Sirius huh? And the fact that he has girls of all shapes and sizes around him makes no differenced to you?"

"No not at all" James replied with a straight face, "There's only one girl for me and I think we all know who that is".

"Whatever" Esmee said, a little irritated with James' continuous change of emotions that kept flickering between his unending love for Lily, and his raging hormones that made him chase after every girl possible. "Oh and Jamie?" she called after him, "You know me too well to expect me to listen to your advice don't you?" she asked but was only answered by laughter.

James shook his head slightly to himself, knowing that whatever Esmee thought he was truly set on winning Lily's heart, and if he admired a few other girls along the way…well there was no harm in looking right? It always amazed him that despite everything she'd been through, everything that she'd lost she could still be incredibly upbeat. Yet this plan of hers…he felt pity for Sirius and Lia, he truly did, but knowing Esmee's determination, they were going to submit to her plan, even if it was the last thing they did.

* * *

Over the following weeks stress levels were running high as the strain of their 6th year work load started taking effect. Most nights were either spent in the common room or the library, with students in the higher years desperately trying to complete what they were sure was a torturous work load set by the Professor's of Hogwarts who they were now sure had no hearts. One of the main things that they were working on though were the projects, as they were quickly coming to realise that despite the fact they had a year to research it, it was expected to be of a ridiculously high quality and that large amounts of work would have to be put into it throughout the whole year.

The four girls had been trying increasingly imaginative ways, including hiding in suits of armour, to try and avoid working with the Marauders. The suit of armour situation had been very tricky, and it had left Peter with the impression that Ally and Lia had a secret fetish for metal clothing that caused him to avoid them for a good two weeks until Remus pointed out that they'd most probably been lying to him. Only probably though; Remus was realising more and more that the cousin's were definitely not what you would call normal.

As time went on however they began to realise that they couldn't keep running away. Things were getting out of hand and Lily especially realised that they had to work at this. The rest quickly agreed after the redhead had a very vivid nightmare about failing Defence Against the Dark Arts and then made it her mission to make them all work together, despite the fact spending an evening with James Potter usually sent her into such a rage she was given a wide berth for hours afterwards.

It was however safe to say that James and Sirius were not happy that they were forced to sit down and work for a change. They'd spent the past five years at Hogwarts just sailing through on their stupidly large amounts (according to Lily) of natural intelligence, and although that was still helping them through, they did need to put more effort in. Situations weren't helped in that Lily, adamant that she wasn't a human doormat, refused to do all of the reading and research for their project, and most nights she ended up storming out of the room yelling curses at an equally angry James. Sirius and Lia, who were so alike, sat mostly for the evenings either insulting one another or sitting there in absolute silence _thinking_ of different ways to insult each other. Needless to say it was not the best starts to their partnerships.

On the other hand, at least Ally and Esmee were making the effort to get along with Remus and Peter. Wait, no, Ally tolerated Remus but Esmee spent most of her time practicing ways of punishing Peter with spells or hexes if his hands got too close to her legs. To everyone else, much to his chagrin, it was obvious that Remus liked Ally in more than friendship, but to Ally, well, it really wasn't. She thought his 'nice guy' act was just that: an act he used to gain girlfriends. Whilst Remus tried to gain Ally's trust and persuade her that he wasn't like his friends, she remained stubborn and oblivious to his feelings. With all eight students feuding, things were not looking good, and they were about to get worse.

Yet not all hope was lost on the eight Gryffindor's whose foreboding future was rushing towards them. They always had someone to turn to, in fact they had Gryffindor's resident Agony Uncle – Rubeus Hagrid. Three Professors in particular watched with cleverly concealed amusement as the 6th years made increasingly regular trips down to the gamekeeper's house, knowing full well that events were moving and conspiring against the students; that they would be thrown together whether they liked it or not.

* * *

Hagrid was not the stupid oaf many of the students took him for. He was surprisingly perceptive and he saw things that most people would overlook. All they saw of him was a giant of a man with an unhealthy obsession for what they would deem as dangerous creatures. What they disregarded was his depth of feeling and understanding that endeared him so much to the students that bothered to get to know him, and he smiled softly to himself as he thought of the group of 6th year Gryffindor students; he'd never known a nicer bunch. He promised himself then and there to help them anyway he could, and indeed it had seemed over the past few weeks they'd been coming to him more and more for advice, and looking out his window towards the grand school, he could see four very gloomy looking boys making their way to see him. Recalling his orders from the headmaster he couldn't suppress a slightly evil chuckle – they really weren't going to know what hit them.

* * *

They were the Marauders, self proclaimed princes of Hogwarts; untouchable, intelligent, talented – and they were at a complete loss. No matter what they did they somehow couldn't get on the good side of the four girls they wanted to. They found themselves bewildered and miserable as every plan of action they took came back and hit them in the face like a misfired bat-bogey hex.

"I mean I didn't even touch her leg this time!" Peter was looking genuinely put out. If he was honest, the first instance, perhaps the first hex Esmee aimed at him was deserved, but since then if he so much as twitched he'd ultimately wind up in the hospital wing. Madam Pomfrey had had to treat him for in-growing nasal hair, poisonous spots sprouting all over his face and a particularly vicious bout of mutating ear wax. The less said about that one the better.

"I know Pete but females are a strange species, I mean I only opened my mouth and that dark haired chick started listing my faults and even dared to suggest that I was the most feminine guy she'd ever come across! I am not feminine", Sirius insisted then proceeded to flick his black hair out of his eyes. James and Remus snorted in laughter but had to quickly hide their expressions as an increasingly irritable Sirius sent them a death glare.

"Look Peter you just have to try and get on her good side, treat her like a lady so she isn't suspicious of you anymore" Remus pointed out reasonably. Peter gave him a very wry look. James couldn't suppress his smirk.

"You know usually Moony I would have said that was good advice, but Ally doesn't seem to be buying it now does she?" James asked with a raised eyebrow. Remus could only shake his head miserably in response.

"Merlin we're pathetic really aren't we?" Peter mumbled disconsolately. Sirius' loud protestations to that rhetoric question were cut short as he realised that James and Remus were agreeing with their quieter friend.

"Oh come on mates, we're the Marauders, we're untouchable! Things will come good soon enough – I mean who can resist us?" He was making a valiant effort of trying to rally his friends.

"They can seemingly" Remus responded dryly, "Besides Lia's doing a good job of resisting you so far Casanova" he finished with such a strong lace of cynicism he'd probably made Salazar Slytherin proud. Sirius however just looked confused.

"Who's Casanova?"

"Never mind" Remus sighed and any further questions from Sirius were cut off as James raised his hand to place a depressed knock on Hagrid's large wooden door.

It opened only a second after he'd knocked, and Hagrid was stood there waiting, his large smile obscured by his wild tangle of a beard that seemed to cover all of his face, yet still managed to show the cheerful spark in his crinkling beetle black eyes.

"Well if I aint seen a more miserable bunch o' lads in me life" he rumbled out with a gentle smile, before moving aside to let them all in. "'C'mon in then lads, I've got summat to show yer".

The boys cast slightly worried looks at each other, recalling many an occasion when Hagrid had something to show them, usually of a dangerous creature variety that more often then not resulted in them ending up in the Hospital Wing. Edging slowly in behind the huge man all four of them let out a sigh of relief when they saw what was sitting on a large woolly blanket in the middle of Hagrid's large wooden table.

"Aint he a beauty" Hagrid crooned quietly, reaching out a hand to stroke the small dark creature on the table.

"He sure is Hagrid" Sirius exclaimed excitedly as he rushed forward to see the most adorable puppy he'd ever seen in his life. "A bit on the tame side for you though isn't it?"

"Don't you worry, Fang ere will grow a lot more, be the best guard dog he will". At the mention of the puppy's name Sirius jerked his hand back quickly, but after studying Fang for a moment, who was on his back with all four legs in the air, he hesitantly began petting him again.

James, Remus and Peter all came forward to have a look as well, as Hagrid bustled about his house, looking for his infamous rock cakes and putting the kettle on to boil.

"Why'd you get him Hagrid?" Peter asked as he curiously watched Fang's reactions to all of them. He appeared to love Sirius and liked him and James well enough, but when Remus put his hand out to stroke him, the puppy actually recoiled. A flicker of some unreadable emotion passed across his friends face as Remus sat down with a defeated sigh and turned his face away from the table.

"Well yer see Peter what with all the creatures I get through ere, I'm not often allowed ter keep them and I thought I'd get me a companion ter 'elp me, specially now seeing as the forest's getting more dangerous. Fang ere when he's full grown will be a great 'elp for me when I go patrolling".

"Dangerous? Why what's happening in there Hagrid?" James asked, a slightly worried look on his face. His mind went immediately to Remus. Every full moon they went to help him, turned into their animagus form and went exploring and looking for adventure in the forest. They knew it was an illegal thing they'd done, but they were the Marauders. They looked out for each other and knowing how much it was helping Remus, James knew they had to keep it up, whatever the risk. It didn't hurt though to find out exactly what dangers they would be up against.

"Well now, I'm not sure I should be tellin' yer about that James. It aint nothing I can' handle and the Centaurs keep me posted. There are just larger parts of the forest that aren't what you call…friendly is all".

The boys all started trying to ask Hagrid more about what was going on, but it was like he'd all of a sudden become deaf and wouldn't answer anymore questions on the subject. Eventually they realised they weren't going to get anywhere and quickly said their goodbyes. Hagrid watched them go with a worried expression on his face. Times were getting darker and he wanted to keep them all safe from it as long as possible, but a part of his was disagreeing with his orders from Dumbledore. Were they really too young to know the truth? Surely it was better they knew everything so that they could be prepared? With a heavy sigh a closed the heavy wooden door before retreating to his table where Fang was flay on his back, deep asleep and slowly forming a pool of drool by the side of his head.

It wasn't long though until Hagrid had more visitors.

"I mean, he just won't leave me alone!" Lily was grasping her mug of tea as though it was the only thing keeping her sane.

"Ah there now, James is a good lad, why not give him a chance?" Hagrid put forth the question in his usual manner and he hid a grin in his tangle of a beard at the panicked looks the three other girls then shot their red head friend. To Lily's credit she didn't lose her temper although her lips almost disappeared into the thinnest line as she told Hagrid exactly why she wouldn't give a certain arrogant Gryiffindor a chance.

"Well if you ask me I think you're being a bit 'arsh there Lily. They way I see it you can at least give him a shot and even if it doesn't work out-"

"It wont" Lily muttered darkly, then flushed lightly at Hagrid's disapproving stare.

"As I was saying, even if it don't work out, well then you tried, and he'd have to leave you alone now then wouldn't he?"

"He's got a point Lils" Esmee pointed out.

"Oh yeah well then if he's got a point why don't you go and do the same thing with Peter?" Lily shot back, and then smirked evilly at the look of disgust that flitted over the blonde's face. "Yeah, not such a good point now then is it?"

Hagrid watched the bickering between the girls carefully. From what he could see James and Remus were definitely in with the best chance. He ruefully thought of how important Dumbledore said it was for the students to get together. Esmee and Peter…he just didn't see it happening, but then stranger things had happened before. An eruption of giggling came from behind him and he turned to see Lia being licked to death by his new puppy.

"Hagrid he's adorable! Aren't you Fang? Yes, yes you are! There's a good dog!"

"You know Lia, you are an extremely disturbing person" Esmee noted clinically.

"You're just full of these remarkable observations today now aren't you?" Lia sniped back before sticking her tongue out childishly.

"She has a point Lia. Maybe if Sirius were a dog he'd actually stand a chance, you're absolutely horrid to him you know" Ally said as she critically studied the ends of her waist length hair. "I need a hair cut" she sighed mournfully.

"I'll do it for you!" Lia exclaimed joyously, leaping to her feet. "Will chin length do you?"

"Don't you dare!" Ally shrieked as she ran to hide behind Hagrid. "I'd never forgive you if you did that".

"Well then don't tell me how horrid I'm being to the Thing when you're being even worse to Remus. He genuinely likes you; at least I know that the boy I'm tormenting isn't getting his feelings hurt".

Four flat gazes bored into her.

"Well", she amended "his feelings aren't getting hurt as much".

"Oh God, this is ridiculous!" Esmee burst out. "Hagrid, you talk to them, can't you tell them just to back off and leave us alone?"

Hagrid considered the girls for a long moment, carefully weighing up what to say.

"No girls, I don't think that I will. Those lads are a good bunch and I think you should give em a chance. It won't 'urt you to behave in a more ladylike manner neither. I've 'eard bout them spells you've been putting on poor Pete there Esmee and I must say I'm disappointed. I expected better from the lot of you".

Hagrid struggled with his conscience as he saw the shame spread across the faces of the four girls he'd come to call his friends, but he had a job to do and he knew he had to be firm.

"Well now", he continued "the day's getting on and I best be back off to work. Do you want me to walk you back up ter school?"

"No thanks Hagrid" Lia said, giving Fang a quick tickle as they all got ready to leave. "We need to stop by the greenhouses anyway".

The girls clustered together against the wind as they made their way across the grounds. For once though they were silent, each one of them thinking over what Hagrid had said.

* * *

It was Sunday and that afternoon Quidditch practice had been arranged but James had better things to think about, which was a change for him. He was walking towards the girls' dormitories with one thing on his mind – for him and Lily Evans to stop feuding. He'd never met anyone like her. She was so independent and opinionated, that he really didn't know what to make of it all, especially her attitude. James was good looking and knew it, which meant that he usually could get any girl he wanted. Between himself and Sirius, they had been out with most of the girls in their year – excluding the Slytherin ones of course. But after spending so much time with Lily now his attitude had changed from one being proud to…ashamed? He knew that Esmee had been trying to point this out too him for a while, that there was more to girls than looks but he hadn't taken any notice of her.

James shook himself out of his thoughts as he reached the stairs leading up to the girls dormitory. He quickly muttered a charm and he was soon floating his way up, stand precariously on one of the dark red plump cushions from the common room. Inwardly he grumbled to himself. It was so unfair the boys couldn't use the girls' staircase, and yet the girls could use theirs!

All of his thought were then lost as he reached Lily's room, and lightly knocked on the door. Trying desperately to flatten his unkempt, black hair he entered the room to see Lily sat at the mirror brushing her long red hair. As she saw James in the reflection of the mirror she hastily pulled her hair back into its usual ponytail, drawing attention away from herself.

"What are you doing here?" she asked crisply, her emerald green eyes wide in confusion.

"Um…well…I…" James said brilliantly. His eyes were on the floor and as he attempted to speak he couldn't bring himself to look into her face.

"Um…um...do you ever have a complete thought?" she knew she was being rude, but night after night for the past few weeks she'd had to put up with his arrogance and idiocy. Now it was her turn. James, his eyes still down said;

"Lighten up will you? It wasn't easy, me coming up here ok?" why couldn't he look at her? Lily looked sceptical however.

"Oh really? It took the brilliant James Potter that much time to master the levitating charm did it?" He winced at the scorn he heard in her voice. "Did you just want to insult me some more just because I keep rejecting you? Say that I'm a cold, boring bookworm who has apparently no feelings?"

James looked at her in confusion.

"What do you mean?"

"James I know what people think of me and that most of them don't like me. I don't care, I don't like most people, at least not now with the attitude that spreading through the magical world. I'm an outcast, I even understand that, but if you even bothered to look past appearances once in a while, you'd know that there's more to people – especially me".

Now James really was confused. Was she insinuating that even he might not like her for who she was deep down just because she was _muggle born_? Surely she couldn't think that, especially not after his reaction to Snape calling her a mudblood at the end of the last school year. He sighed inwardly though. She'd also said that she'd rather date the giant squid then him. He shook his head in bewilderment.

"I don't understand".

"Look, I know thinking is a difficult skill for you to master, so I'll make it simpler for you. Get over your shallow self and open your eyes to what's around you".

James was dumbfounded. Nobody had ever spoken to him like that before – especially a girl.

"Lily, I-" she cut him off.

"Forget it okay? I've got better things to do than trade insults today, so why don't you leave me alone?" she answered before walking out of the room.

"But this is your dorm!" he yelled after her. He turned around to see Esmee standing in the doorway leading to the girls' bathroom with one eyebrow raised.

"So did you have a nice conversation with your feet?" she asked pleasantly. James scowled at his friend; this meeting could have definitely gone better and he was in no mood to talk to anyone. "Don't get me wrong", she continued, "they're great shoes, but isn't Lily prettier?" James sighed then, feeling thoroughly ashamed of himself.

"Am I really that bad Esmee? You did hear what she said didn't you?" she nodded. "So am I? That bad I mean. Because no one has ever said anything like that to me, or made me feel so bad".

"Wow, look at you! You've had a growing moment", she said enthusiastically.

"Just answer the question will you, and save the sarcasm for later", he said testily. Esmee smirked at her friend 'I've never seen him so worked up before', she thought. 'How…interesting'.

"Do you want the truth?" he nodded. "Then, yes you are". He nodded again glumly, retreating to look at his shoes once more.

"What did she mean though, about attitudes towards her? I mean she knows that _I _don't care she's muggle born right?"

"I don't know Jamie I really don't, that confused me a bit I have to admit. But with everything else…it's up to you to change Jamie, and you will. This is the first step, and I have a feeling there will be more. I have faith in you, and you should too". She wouldn't say any more on the matter, not yet, and walked out of the room leaving a confused James to his thoughts.

* * *

"Hey! How'd practice go?" Lia asked Esmee as the blonde plonked herself down in front of the crackling fire place tiredly. The other three girls were all sprawled in various states on the floor, each propped up by a mound of soft cushions.

"Really good, we're going to cream Slytherin in the last game of the cup this year!" she said smiling happily. "What are you guys up to?" she asked.

"Homework", Ally and Lily said dejectedly. Lia only raised her eyebrows.

"You guys spend way too much time on school work" Lia said to her friends. She had parchment in front of her, but it was definitely nothing to do with schoolwork.

"What's that Lia?" Ally asked.

"Nothing", she said, a little too quickly.

"Oh really?" Ally asked sceptically. Lia remained silent though, which was really strange for her. There was a shadow then cast over the floor as the four Marauders gathered round.

"Oh Merlin what do you want?" Lia asked Sirius testily.

"Can't you feel the love in the room?" the tall dark haired boy asked Remus pointedly. "I thought you and I could go over some ideas, instead of competing for the best insult award".

"Why spoil what works?" Lia asked innocently.

"Look if that's the way you want it, fine! I won't bother!"

"Bother! Since when have you bothered?"

"Excuse me you- " Remus decided to intervene at this point.

"Okay children, that's enough bickering for now. Sirius have you done your potions essay yet?"

"Potions essay?!" Sirius and Lia said in unison.

"Ooo, déjà vu! Yes potions essay", Esmee said.

"How long does it have to be?" Lia asked quickly.

"Four feet and it's about invisibility potions" Ally promptly replied, clearly used to providing her dark haired cousin with this sort of information.

"Who needs a potion when you have a cloak?" Sirius muttered causing James to elbow him and say;

"Whatever, but it has to be in by tomorrow".

Lia started to look panicked at this point and quickly started reciting parts she could remember from what Professor Terp had said before. Sirius, also noticing this, got some spare parchment and started writing everything Lia was saying down.

"When you drink the potion-" she stopped in mid sentence, glaring angrily at Sirius. "Are you copying me!" she yelled. Sirius looked slightly sheepish, trying to hide the parchment subtly, but Lia was too quick. She grabbed the parchment.

"Oh my gosh Sirius, than you so much for taking notes for me!" she said in an overly sugary sweet voice to a shocked and angry Sirius. "I don't know what I'd have done without you because I'm sure I'd have forgotten everything. Next time we have homework I'll call you to make notes for me!" She laughed at his angry face and went up to her dorm to finish writing - parchment in hand. Ally and Lily quickly followed. Esmee could tell Sirius was angry, so stayed to watch his reaction.

"Okay, that's taking it too far! I have had enough of that chick and her smart-arse mouth!" Suddenly, as if a light bulb had gone off in his head, he smiled evilly causing Esmee to get up saying, "Oh this is not going to be good", and leave.

"Its war guys", Sirius declared.

"War?" Peter asked confusedly.

"Yes – prank war, and she is going to get what's coming to her!"

The three remaining Marauders looked worriedly at their friend who was laughing like a demonic idiot. This was going to be fun for them - not good for the girls.


	6. Battle Commences

**A/N: Disclaimer:** See first chapter.

A big thank you to everyone who is still reading this and still reviewing!

Heidi and Goldenwolf88 – we're so glad you still like it! Very sorry about the long break between updates but we have it all stored on our pc's, just need to add stuff and what not. Have already started on chapter 7 though so here's hoping it's not another six months until next time we update!

MaxRideRox – you're reviews was a complete surprise to us seeing as it had been so long since we'd updated, but a very big THANK YOU! It really spurred us on to get this chapter out, and we really hope you enjoy it :-)

To everyone else out there, thank you so much for taking the time to read this; we really hope you like this chapter!

Yavanna and Sunstar

Chapter 6

The four boys were all clustered together in one corner of the Gryffindor common room. Sirius had a very determined look on his face and the other three boys were regarding him with weary expressions. Sirius may have always been one of the instigators of fun, but ever since his family had disowned him there had been a wilder side to him, and James had persuaded Remus and Peter to at least go along with Sirius' ideas until he calmed down again.

They were in the process of making minor adjustments to their first prank that was going to take place the next day. If all went according to plan, four specific girls were going to have a Halloween they would never forget and not for good reasons.

"So we're agreed then, tomorrow morning war is declared!" Sirius whispered loudly.

"I dunno Sirius, they haven't actually done anything" Peter objected hesitantly, unsure of whether his handsome friend was going to have one of his violent mood swings.

"Peter they've made fools out of us all! Esmee and the dark-haired chick have rejected you and me, and Ally and Lily have ruined James and Remus". Sirius replied heatedly.

Peter looked at James who kept casting looks in Lily's direction and mumbling, "Seriously though, am I really that bad?"

"Well, I'm for it – but if anyone asks, it was Sirius' idea and he's the one with all the issues" Remus stated, glancing nervously around the room.

"Thanks for the support Moony old pal" Sirius said sarcastically, but Remus only grinned and replied "Anytime Padfoot". Both then turned to James with worried looks; he seemed to be taking Lily's rejection even worse that Sirius had Lia's.

"Is he going to be okay?" Peter asked worriedly. James had had many clashes with Lily over the years, but none had ever shaken him so much as this most recent one.

"He'll get over it. Esmee's been rejecting you for years, and you've handled it alright" Sirius replied with conviction, unaware of how hurtful his comment was.

"Yeah whatever" Peter muttered darkly, casting a furtive look at the blonde girl he so longed for.

"Wormtail, maybe you should find another girl to swoon over", Remus advised.

"Excuse me, I do not swoon", Peter said, casting a meaningful look at Esmee who had just risen from the table and was leaving the great hall. He heaved a mournful sigh.

"Ah young love", Sirius joked.

"Like you'd know anything about love", James said in a brooding tone, staring into his flagon of pumpkin juice.

"Prongs, for Merlin's sake snap out of it! It's not as if Lily Evans is even worth it", Sirius replied hotly. He didn't mean to get so angry but James' words had really stung. Sirius had never been good at emotions like love, basically because he'd never been exposed to it. Life on the Black household at home had absolutely nothing to do with love.

"That's not the point and you know it", James mumbled, "I have taken the opportunity to grow up, maybe you should too", he finished.

Sirius smirked, brushing his unwarranted anger aside, and cast his arm around the room.

"Why spoil what works? I'm not complaining when I have all these luscious chicks worshipping at my feet".

James rolled his eyes at his friend.

"I notice Lia said exactly the same thing last night", Remus said with a sly grin.

"What 'all these luscious chicks worshipping at my feet' – I knew there was something wrong with her!" he cried triumphantly.

"No – 'why spoil what works'" , Remus recapped, then taking up the same sly expression, added, "Spending too much time with her eh Padfoot old pal?"

"Don't even talk to me about that chick", he said darkly.

"Ah, still bitter from the rejection are you?" Peter questioned mischievously.

"Well you should know- how many times has Esmee turned you down now?"

Peter only answered him with a bleak and bitter expression.

"Now wait a minute Padfoot, Peter has a point. True it may be your first rejection but you haven't handled it in…shall we say, the most gracious of ways", James interjected, coming to his smaller friends defence.

Sirius held his hands up, warding off his friends' comments. "Chill guys, no need to gang up on me", but James turned to him with a mischievous glimmer in his blue eyes.

"Au contraire, Sirius, I think you may have met your match in this girl". Sirius just looked horrified.

"That'll never happen Prongs I'm-" He was rudely cut off as the familiar voices of Lia and Ally could be heard from across the table.

"Ally, just give him a chance will you? He's not that bad".

"Of course he is. He's an egotistical jerk just like his friends and I can't be bothered with him", she replied stubbornly.

Lia cast a sidelong glance at the Marauders who had suddenly gone quiet and were watching the two girls with growing interest. Lia signalled for her cousin to come closer.

"We'll finish this later", she said.

"No we'll finish this now Karlia. I am not, and never will be interested in him, so leave me alone and get over it".

"Somehow I knew you were going to say that Aldara, but unfortunately for you, this is only the beginning", Lia finished, grinning. Ally shook her head and walked out of the Great Hall, Lia following closely behind.

"Wonder what that was about?" Sirius asked with interest.

"Must have been about you guys, she used the word egotistical", Peter noticed. Sirius, Remus and James slowly turned to the fourth Marauder with mock hurt on their faces.

"Actually that's true – but you're forgetting that you're also 'one of us'" James commented smugly.

Peter looked at his friends and a shy smile spread across his face. "Oh yeah", he said, and they headed on their way back up to the dorms, and Peter revelled in the stares that followed them, knowing that he belonged – that he was a part of the most envied group in the school.

* * *

"What is your head made out of? Bricks?" Lia snapped, "Has anything I've said managed to penetrate through your thick skull!?"

"No, and it's not likely to either", Ally replied stubbornly

"Well I suggest you clear the hair away from your ears and listen to me next time! You are such a stubborn cow!"

The Marauders had been walking up the stairs a short distance behind, and they all hid their smiles as the cousins continued to bicker. It was turning out to be the norm for them.

"Mood bitch!" Ally yelled back.

"Oh my God I am so not moody! Oh, what am I wasting my time on you for? Go bleach your hair again!" Lia retorted, leaving a seething Ally to try and come up with a witty comeback. Her mouth kept opening and closing like a demented goldfish.

"You…you…thing!" she finished lamely as the Marauders rounded the corner.

"I'm...I'm so hurt" Lia said in a fake teary voice but then continued normally to say, "Now if you want to call anyone a thing – there's your man, I mean boy. There's a thing", she pointed directly at Sirius' chest.

"Oh yeah, I'm really glad we came this way", he muttered more to himself than anyone else as Ally stormed off. Remus on the other hand kept walking to catch up with Lia. He gripped her by the elbow and turned her around so she was facing him as the three remaining Marauders went on their way.

"A word Lia if you don't mind", he said with a disapproving gleam in his eyes.

"Oh, hi Remus um…back there, you know it had nothing to do with you right?" she asked in mock innocence.

"Oh really? So what was it about then?" he asked with eyebrows raised.

"Well…um…it's you know… a secret?" she finished lamely.

"A secret? Really?" he said, eyebrows still raised.

Lia looked at him in despair. Damn it! Ally had taken all of her energy and now she was left strategically vulnerable. And she never had been able to lie to Remus.

"Oh, well fine! Damn it! It was about you okay? You happy now?" she finished, feeling irrationally exasperated with her friend.

"Lia, I know you mean well, be please stop scheming. If Ally doesn't like me, so be it", he sighed with a shrug of the shoulders.

"But she does Remus; she just doesn't know it yet!" Lia replied, trying to sound convincing.

"Please Lia – stop with the meddling", he turned and carried on walking, leaving Lia determined to get them together. 'It will be done', she thought, I just need the help of a professional…'

"Esmeeeee!" she yelled, taking off to find her. She quickly hurried, not looking where she was going as a rather scandalous picture of a group of drunken men and women in toga's caught her eye. It wasn't long before the inevitable happened and she ran into the back of someone, which turned out to be a very dejected looking James. Lia, picking herself up off the floor said in a pathetic voice, "Ouch – that actually hurt".

"Sorry", James mumbled. Lia looked shocked and clutched at her chest.

"Oh my God! James Potter; biggest git of the year – apologising? I think I'm having a heart attack!" she said in mock horror. James however looked despairingly and shrugged his shoulders. Lia, never seeing this side of the Marauder leader, knotted her eyebrows in confusion, and did something she never dreamt she would.

"You okay?" she asked, genuinely concerned.

"Like you care" he answered moodily. Lia nearly gave up, but the look in James' eyes held her in place. He was reminding her of Remus.

"No really c'mon, what's up?"

"Well", he looked at her, giving her the benefit of the doubt, "Okay, Am I really that bad?"

"Huh?" Lia asked in a confused tone, "Care to elaborate?"

James then recapped his encounter with Lily the previous day. "So", he finished, "I need to known. Am I that bad?"

Lia looked down at her feet, trying to come up with a nice way to dash his hopes. "Do you want to know the truth?" she asked finally.

All hope faded from James' face. "That's exactly what Esmee said".

"Well, then…yes you are, but I have every faith that with Remus' help you will change for the good. Any friend of Remus' can't be that bad", she concluded then added, "excluding the thing of course".

"The thing?" it was James' turn to be confused as his forehead crinkled slightly above his glasses.

"The thing…" she repeated, but James still looked confused. Lia sighed at the thought of her being forced to say his name, "Sirius", she said.

"Oh", James finally cottoned on and nodded thoughtfully. "So you like him then?" he asked, receiving a look from Lia that plainly said 'Don't even go there'. James gave a small chuckle, happy that his spirits had finally been lifted.

"You know Lia, you're not such a bad person after all", he said sounding slightly surprised despite himself.

"I'm touched. And, well…I guess I can tolerate you too – but that doesn't mean we're friends", she added hastily.

"Yeah. Well, I guess I'll go find Remus and get started on my education into 'not being an egotistical prick'", he said quoting from what he'd heard about himself and his friends previously.

"Good good, ooooh before you go, have you seen Esmee?" Lia asked.

"No. Actually I've been avoiding her, she gave me the blunt truth about my behaviour", he answered shaking his head.

"It had to be done".

James nodded his head and at the top of the corridor they separated, each looking for people who could help them with their new found problems.

* * *

The Marauders hovered pensively next to the beds of their chosen victims. They were concentrating hard on their combined levitation charm, none of them knowing whether they would set the alarm off in the dormitory as always happened with the stairs if they set foot on the floor.

They were all struggling to hide their emotions as they stared at the girls, each trying to prepare themselves for the beginning of the proposed 'war'. Not that the four girls knew anything about it.

James was almost paralysed. There in the bed before him, her hair spread out like a fiery blanket, was his beautiful Lily. 'But she isn't mine', he thought despairingly as a wave of hopelessness hit him. 'She hates me'. James continued his morose thoughts for a while until his self pride kicked in. He'd been nothing but nice to her this year – and she wouldn't even give him a chance! With a grim smile he steeled himself for the task at hand.

Remus was blushing. All his gentlemanly feeling and manners were trying to tell him to keep his eyes on Ally's face, but it was as though they had a mind of their own. They traced the line of her jaw, hovered tantalisingly over the hollow of her throat, her smooth shoulder, the curve of her pyjama top…

With a strangled cough he flushed a deeper shade of red; and with what he thought was impeccable self control he turned his back on her. Why couldn't they just get started?!

Peter was confused. No matter which way he tilted his head he couldn't understand how Esmee was breathing. She was wrapped, cocoon like in her duvet and all that was showing was a flash of ash blonde hair. Peter juggled the thought of adjusting her duvet just so he knew she could breath, but his ears throbbed painfully then at the memory of her last hex and he thought better of it.

Deep down he knew he didn't have a chance with her but he wouldn't give up. She was everything he so admired; strong, brave, confident… Peter just couldn't understand why she couldn't like him, especially as her two good friends James and Sirius did. 'Maybe this year she'll change her mind…' his thoughts trailed off as he heard Remus' cough and he fidgeted nervously. If they didn't get started soon the girls were going to wake up and catch them. His insides trembled at the thought of what Esmee would do if she did wake up – it most definitely wouldn't be good.

Sirius was grinning. Some would say like a maniac, he would say like a prankster mastermind. There she was, the dark haired chick who dared reject him, all defenceless, all unaware, all…asleep. He had to suppress a chuckle as he spied a very battered looking teddy bear clutched in her arms. His grin widened as an idea hit him, and he reached out a hand to grab the treasured item. His hand stilled though the closer he got and he finally really looked at Lia.

She wasn't exceptionally beautiful like some of the girls he'd been with, but there was a definite _something_. A very wilful chin and too long nose gave her face character that matched her personality which despite himself he'd found very enjoyable throughout all their verbal sparring. Not that he would ever admit that to his friends. He couldn't have them think he actually appreciated aspects of her apart from the obvious. Shaking his head at his own thought he turned his attention back to the teddy and missed the frown that formed on Lia's face. Without warning a hand reached out and smacked him full in the face.

Sirius stumbled back, almost breaking the charm that kept him above the surface of the floor. Touching a hand to his nose he drew it back and was shocked to see blood there. He glared back at the girl. She was still sound asleep, bear under one arm and starting to snore lightly. 'How the hell did she know I was there?!' Sirius growled under his breath as he tried to stop the bleeding. That girl was definitely going to get what was coming to her, and he'd enjoy every single second of it.

"Right boys, it's time" he whispered, hoping to sound menacing but the smirks the other three sent his way rather ruined the effect. With a glare at all of them, he squared his shoulders, and they all got to work.

James, whose best subject was Transfiguration, started changing the objects in his half of the room form their original states while Sirius started to put charms on them. Remus and Peter started doing the same on the other half. When they were finished they all hovered over to James who covered them all up again with his invisibility cloak; and they left the sleeping girls none the wiser.

Ally opened her eyes sleepily the next morning and shut them again instantly. Her eyebrows, however, knotted in confusion and suspicion as she could hear low flapping noises and movements around the room. She opened her eyes wider this time and her mouth slowly formed a large O.

"Uh…guys…guys!" she said loud enough for the girls to hear. She was answered by groans that clearly stated that they were all still semi-conscious. "Guys! Why is the room moving?" she asked quieter than before as she was now starting to feel afraid. Esmee was the first to speak.

"Ally, it's only a dream, so shut up and go back to sleep", but Ally was convinced that something was going on.

"No, I'm serious. Why is the room moving?" she asked again. Lily had also woken up, but unlike Esmee she agreed instantly with her friend.

"Actually I'm with Ally. Why is the room moving?" she asked in confusion. Esmee opened her eyes wider and like Ally, her mouth formed an O as her jaw dropped.

"What's all the talking about?" Lia asked drowsily and was surprised to see all three girls point to the ceiling in shock and fear. "Hey, the room's moving", she stated.

"Yes Lia, we've established that. What we want to know now is _why_ the room is moving", Esmee replied.

"Lily hit the lights!" Ally yelled, but when she did, chaos erupted throughout the room. The reason the room was moving was because spiders and scorpions were crawling all over the floor and up into the beds, and bats – vampire bats – had been waiting patiently on the ceiling. Blood curdling screams could be heard, probably throughout the whole of Hogwarts, but at this point they didn't care. Bats were flying everywhere, and the four girls had to put their arms above their heads to shield themselves from the attack. Squeals of fright kept escaping their mouths and reaching the eagerly awaiting Marauders' ears who were gathered at the bottom of the stairs.

The girls made a quick dash out of the door and sprinted towards the common room, dressed only in their night clothes, some of which were much more revealing than was decent. It was quite an interesting sight for Remus and Peter, but luckily for Lily and Lia they were wearing noticeably more clothing then their two blonde friends. The girls started to breath normally again although they still shuddered slightly at the memory of the creatures in their room, until Ally started yelling obscene things that none of them could understand.

"Ally, it's okay, it's all over", Lia soothed, but stopped dead as she saw something relatively small and black nest itself deeper in Ally's thick blonde hair. Ally, a look of fright and disgust on her face, said in a small voice that was barely audible. "There's something in. My. Hair".

Lia, also noticing her state which verged on an all out panic attack, yelled at her two remaining friends. "Esmee, Lily! Get over here and hold her down!" as a fit of giggles threatened to engulf her. Lily and Esmee however ignored her as they had problems of their own.

"Get it off, get it off!" Esmee shrieked as a spider crawled up her bare leg. Lily was trying to extract a scorpion out of her vest top without having much luck. The Marauders were doubled over in a fit of hysterics as Esmee began jerking her leg violently, causing the spider to fly through the air, and his Peter square in the face.

Both girls shook themselves after they had removed the offensive creatures from them and made their way over to Lia and Ally who were struggling to keep their emotions in check.

"Finally! Esmee you sit on her legs and Lily you hold her arms", Lia commanded, "I'm going in", she added, bursting into a fit of laughter. This resulted in the three girls glaring at her and yelling "Lia this is not a laughing matter!!" which quickly shut her up. Her arm kept cautiously moving away from Ally's head as she didn't know what she was dealing with. Esmee kept squirming on Ally's legs whilst Lily kept turning her head away in disgust. Ally meanwhile was trying her hardest not to hyperventilate and go into a hysterical fit.

"Aha! I've got it!" Lia exclaimed in a triumphant voice, holding the creature newly discovered to be a bat at arm's length. "Aw it's so cute", she stated, "but evil", she finished with hard venom in her voice, throwing the bat to the floor where it immediately turned back into a remembrall. "There was a reason I hid you", she stated knowingly as it turned red. "Ally, hide this thing", she commanded handing it to her cousin who cringed and whispered in a hoarse traumatised voice; "I'm never going up to that room again".

Lia shook her head in despair and ran up to the room and called down; "Girls it's safe – I've already said 'finite incantatum'".

The Marauders looked disappointed that their genius plan had been foiled so quickly. Lily, Ally and Esmee looked at each other and sprinted towards the staircase that led back up the dormitories. Before leaving however, Lily turned back to the Marauders and said in a harsh tone; "This isn't over".

"This is war – and we're taking no prisoners", Esmee added. Ally, still traumatised couldn't answer, but managed a cold glare before retreating back up to their room. Remus turned to Sirius with a knowing expression.

"Why do I get the feeling nothing good can come of this?" he asked.

"This is entirely your fault Sirius", James added. Sirius looked at his friends in disbelief.

"On no, you're in this as much as I am, and in this prank war, there can only be four winners."


	7. Revenge!

Disclaimer: We don't own anything apart from Lia, Ally and Esmee. Everything else belongs to JKR and Warner Brothers.

A/N: warning! This chapter was written at 2am when myself and SunStar were extremely hyper on diet coke so we apologise in advance for the slight hyper ness or strangeness of it. We ourselves think it's a great chapter and we hope you do to. Once again please read and review and enjoy!

VampireWithTheGoldenEyes – We hope this makes you laugh even more! Cheers for the review!

GoldenWolf88 – We've missed you too! Enjoy the chapter :)

MaxRideRox – Yay we're so glad you like it! Hope you like this chapter even more and thanks for the review!

Chapter 7

Revenge. It wasn't a pleasant word, but it was all the four girls could think about throughout the entire day of Halloween; the feast past by in a blur as their minds were focused on something far, far more important. It couldn't be stupid, or something that could be undone quickly and easily. It had to have long lasting effects and be traumatic. So traumatic, that the Marauders would have to have years of therapy with Dumbledore and never be able to show their faces around school for weeks because of the humiliation. Oh yes, revenge was certainly sweet. They sat on Esmee's bed and began brainstorming different ways to cause serious mental discomfort to the Marauders. It was evil, yet surprisingly fun.

"Boys, suck", Esmee declared, causing 'yes's' of support to come from her friends, toasting their glasses of _Fizzing Brains_ together. Now _Fizzing Brains – your head won't know what's hit it! _was a drink that had been new and extremely popular about ten years previously until parents had lobbied together to get it banned. It was a drink that sent children and adults alike into a fit of extreme happiness which resulted in a terrible headache a few hours later. It was in fact a drink that had every side effect of alcohol, without containing any alcohol. The Ministry of Magic had deemed it too dangerous and had banned it five years previously. It was only down to Lia and Ally having _connections_ that allowed them to crack open this now treasured and rare beverage. Needless to say, the effects of the drink were already working their magic on the girls.

Lily was clutching her glass almost possessively. "Your brothers are amazing", she sighed as she took another swig, commenting on the fact that Lia and Ally's Auror brothers had access to many banned substances. "Imagine never having the chance to drink this".

Ally smirked as she watched Lily well and truly let herself relax. The redhead really was too highly strung sometimes. Lia smiled in agreement before pulling them all back on track.

"Revenge will be ours girls, we just need to come up with the perfect plan".

It was the middle of the night, and Ally kept casting nervous glances around the room, in case another bat found its way into her hair. Lia noticing this sighed heavily and tried once again to reassure her nervous cousin.

"Ally, there are no more bats okay? I exterminated the whole room by ending the spell – I'm amazing, praise me", she said.

"So modest", Lily muttered.

"Geniuses need no modesty", Lia grinned.

"Too true", Lily said, "especially when it's me", causing Lia to look at her and say Oooh, the fiery little demon has finally come out of its shell!"

"_Little_ demon? Where'd that come from?"

"The abyss of my stomach – mwahahahaha!!"

Lily backed away slowly, but forgetting she was near the end of the bed, reached the edge and fell over backwards, landing on the floor with a loud _thud_. The three remaining girls burst into hysterical laughter, _Fizzing Brains_ and chocolate being thrown in the air, causing them to laugh even harder. Any passers by would automatically assume that the girls were drunk, which was not far from the truth. Ah bless that _Fizzing Brains_.

-~ In the common room ~

The Marauders, as was usual, had stayed up very late in the common room. It was completely deserted apart from them, and they usually spent this time planning more of their pranks and adventures. This time however was a bit different.  
Sirius, still high on his victory – well _their_ victory, kept laughing manically and nudging James and occasionally Remus to join in. Peter however looked worried; they might not expect the girls to retaliate, but he sure as hell did.

"Sirius don't get complacent, the girls aren't as forgiving as you think, and they're not going to take this lying down", James said with Peter nodding vigorously in agreement. Sirius looked sceptical and sneered.

"They can't touch us – we're too clever for them", he said cockily.

"Sirius, I know Esmee, and I'm starting to get a better idea of her friends, this isn't going to be pretty", James added, again getting vigorous nods from Peter.

Remus had remained quiet, listening intently to the raucous laughter that kept escaping the girls' dorm. He finally spoke quickly and quietly.

"Guys, listen. The girls are up to something".

"Moony, you're paranoid. Chicks can't plan revenge, and these are no different – no matter how hot they look in their pyjamas", Sirius added wistfully, thinking back to that morning.

"Especially Esmee" Peter said getting a vigorous nod from Sirius this time. Sirius seemed to have had a memory lapse that Lia was the third biggest prankster in the school. The others had not, but were still stupid not to be on their guard.

~Back with the girls ~

Esmee put her elbow on her knee and put her finger up to emphasise the fact that she had an idea.

"Okay girls I think I've got it", she said in her hyper state. They quickly gathered round and listened to the plan, giggling manically as time went on.

"Wait", Lily stated, a mischievous glint in her eyes, "Not just them, but all the boys in the 6th year and above!" she finished demonically.

"Oh yeah!" Esmee agreed, high fiveing her friend.

"Those boys are going to be so sorry", Lia finished, taking another gulp of the banned drink.

* * *

They had stayed up all night, strategising up until the very last detail, but it was all to pay off in about an hour. That was when the boys were to take showers, mwahahahaha! They had all dressed in black clothing for the full on ninja effect, pulling their hair up into high ponytails. They were ready for action, and with final evil grins they crept into the dorms of the 6th and 7th year boys' rooms, stealing clothes along the way and summoning owls to take them off their hands, commenting quietly on how messy the rooms were.

"I thought I was bad", Lia stated.

"You are, they're just worse", Esmee answered with a smirk.

It was all starting to come together and as they arrived at the last area of showering stalls and they could see a figure just outside, keeping watch. It was Peter, but the girls were unfazed however and had anticipated this move by the Marauders. Lia started massaging Esmee's shoulders as if she was a boxer getting ready for a title match.

"C'mon girl, you alright? Ready? Confident?" Lia asked.

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm good", Esmee answered. "How's my hair? Make-up?" she asked, placing a hand to her head.

"You look great. Go get 'im", Ally said, pushing Esmee towards an unsuspecting Peter.

"Poor sod", Lily added, "He doesn't have a hope in hell", and she was answered by evil grins and shakes of the head.

Esmee sauntered over to Peter, one hand on her hip, swaying them as she walked. She figured that if she had to do this, she might as well do it right. She stood in front of him, fluttering her eyelashes and pulling her hair down and shaking it around her body for the full on effect. Peter was immediately captivated, and Esmee felt a smile tugging at the corner of her lips. 'This is too easy' she thought.

"So how come you aren't in there showering too?" she asked in a sultry tone. He mumbled something that she couldn't hear.

"Now there's a sight I wouldn't mind seeing" she continued in the same voice. Inwardly she was cringing in disgust but outwards she looked cool, calm and colleted. As Peter turned his head shyly, Esmee seized the opportunity and beckoned for the girls to hurry into the shower room whilst Peter was distracted. They quickly emerged giggling manically with stolen clothes in hand. Peter's adoring smile faltered on his face as he finally caught on to what had just happened.

"But…you…how?" he sputtered in disbelief.

"Revenge Peter dear – it's sweet is it not girls?" Esmee asked. Peter knew that something bad was going to happen to him, but he never knew how evil and scheming their minds were.

"Take it away Esmee", Lia said extravagantly, while Lily and Ally had vacant looks on their faces.

"Petrificus Totalus!" Esmee yelled. Peter's arms immediately snapped to his sides and his legs locked together as he fell backwards as if made out of stone.

"It's nothing personal Peter – no scrap that – yes it is, it's never been more personal", Esmee finished. Lia however turned to Ally and Lily with a mischievous smile and glint in her sapphire blue eyes.

"I can't help but notice how your eyes wondered a bit in there girls – especially to Remus and James".

"I've no idea what you're talking about", Ally muttered but the dark blush that had appeared on her cheeks clearly stated that she did.

"I would never look at James Potter like that!" Lily added trying to sound insulted.

"Really?" Lia questioned them, disbelief flooding her face.

"Well, okay, for just a second maybe", Ally admitted in defeat.

"Well…he was there, and I am a teenage girl, I'm allowed to look" Lily added. Lia only laughed but Esmee had a cheeky look on her face and said, "I gotta see this, even if they are my best friends", and quickly ran into the showers. She came back out with a red tint in her cheeks, but was grinning demonically.

"Not bad, not bad at all", she commented.

"Anyway Lia, are you trying to tell us that you didn't sneak a peak at Sirius", Ally asked slyly as a pink tinge immediately formed on Lia's cheeks.

"Okay…I did, but it was only for a second – like Ally, but hey I'm only human. I may hate the guy's guts but, Quidditch practice has done that body some good", she grinned suggestively, and as the other's cried "hell yeah!" she was glad the attention shifted off her.

"They may be my best friends, but they are _fine_", Esmee smiled. Suddenly the comment were cut short as the taps were turned off.

"Uh…guys, RUN!!!!!!" Lily yelled.

As Esmee, Lily and Ally disappeared around the corner Lia held back slightly just in time to see Remus poke his head around the door, a look of shock apparent on his face when he saw Peter lying motionless on the floor. His attention was soon transferred to a female voice yelling; "Yoohoo Remie!! Looking for these?" He turned around and saw Lia holding up his boxers, with an extremely evil grin on her face. "Good taste by the way", she added before following suit of her friends and sprinting down the corridor, evil "Mwahahaha's" escaping her lips and echoing loudly.

He went back into the showers to tell the boys the _good_ news. They were frantically searching the books for their clothes – finding nothing. Remus sighed and said;

"It's no use, the girls have struck".

A look of fear passed over James' face but Sirius remained oblivious.

"Struck? Remus what are you going on about?" he asked.

"Grab a towel boys, and follow me", there was a mad dash for the towels and Sirius was not best pleased when he ended up with a pink and fluffy one. James and Remus went over to help Peter up from the floor and quickly removed the full body bind spell from him. Peter then recapped what happened and as they entered their dorm, their worse fears were confirmed, as they could find no trace of their clothes. Confused and angry voices proved that they were not the only ones who had suffered this evil fate.

"Peter how did this happen? You were supposed to keep watch!" Sirius said in disbelief.

"They sent Esmee", he said in a miserable and strangled voice.

"Oh they're good. They're really good", James added.

After a quick discussion they agreed that they had to brave the Great Hall with only their towels on. They needed to find out where their clothes were, and unfortunately the girls were their only hope. They walked nervously down the corridors, attracting a lot of female attention along the way. Not that Sirius minded but it was a bit embarrassing. As they entered the hall, silence fell but was then shattered as Professor McGonagall yelled out;

"Boys, what on earth do you think you're-" but was cut off rudely by a piercing evil cackle that came from the direction of Esmee.

"Mwahahahaha!! Mwahahahahahahaha! Mwahahahahahahaha-" but she was then cut off by James' "Esmeeeee!!!"

"Uh, excuse me, I think I was in the middle of an interesting conversation with myself", she quickly added "Mwahaha, now, please continue", she said as the other three girls erupted into hysterical laughter, in what appeared to be a drinking competition between Lia and Ally with Lily as referee. There was a triumphant yell as Lia stood up, empty glass raised above her in the air and said "I WON!!!" before cackling manically, and turning to Sirius with raised eyebrows.

"Ooo, Sirius, pink is definitely your colour", she said and dissolved into hysterics once more as Sirius turned pink, conveniently matching the colour of his towel.

As this was taking place, Professors' Dumbledore, McGonagall and Terp, slowly started making their way to the table. Professor Dumbledore spoke first;

"Girls, I do believe an explanation is in order", he said trying to hide an amused smile.

"Now, now Albus, don't you hide that smile from me, you're as amused as we are", Esmee said in her hyper state – it was the drinks fault!

"And you don't need an explanation, its obvious what's going on here", Lia piped up with mock seriousness. "They're trying to get more girls – and I do believe they may succeed".

At this point McGonagall and Terp were having a whispered conversation to decide whether the girls were drunk or not, however they were not quite quiet enough.

"Au contraire Minerva, we are not drunk, I can safely assure you that we have consumed no alcohol whatsoever" Lia said as the girls all exchanged what they thought were secretive smirks.

"And what pray tell have you been drinking?" Professor Terp sneered at them.

Lia beckoned the other girls together so they could show the professors that they were telling the truth. They pulled out four bottles of the liquidy goodness and slammed them from the table, yelling in unison and pointing directly at the professors, "YOU KNOW WHEN YOU'VE FIZZED YOUR BRAIN!!" then collapsed into giggles once more.

The Professors exchanged meaningful looks, looking slightly worried as hysteria slowly engulfed the girls.

"Where did you come by this banned drink?" Dumbledore asked quietly but the only intelligible reply he got was from Lily who was muttered something about "finding it with the fairy's" as they erupted into laughter once more.

The Marauders exchanged worried looks and Sirius found himself muttering, "Oh dear Lord they've finally cracked". The girls tried to regain their composure without much success, as they looked at the Marauders in their towels. Lia suddenly let out an evil cackle and held up a pair of boxers above her head, waving from them all to see.

"Looking good Remus! But are you missing something?" she asked, leaving poor Remus to blush bright crimson. She then nudged Ally in the ribs.

"Hey Al what do you think of these boxers?" Lia asked.

"Oh very nice", Ally said approvingly, "A hot guy must wear them". Lia glanced at her with a sly grin, "They're Remus'" she cackled.

"Like I said, a hot guy", she said returning the grin as an owl swooped into the hall and flew off with Remus' boxers in its talons.

Esmee, who had picked up on the conversation, opened her eyes wider and feigned astonishment. She attempted to whisper to Remus, her hand placed subtly (or not) to the side of her mouth and said – louder than expected;

"You hear that Remus? You're still in with a chance – hold in there buddy!" causing Remus to again blush and James to chuckle slightly despite himself.

Esmee then turned her attention to Lily who had been staring at James for a very long time with her mouth slightly open.

"Lils, I know James isn't a bad sight to behold, but really, close your mouth!" she added, the blush now switching from Remus' cheeks to James'.

Dumbledore noticing that the girls were calming down _ever_ so slightly said;

"Ladies, I am still waiting patiently for an explanation".

"Take it away Lily", Lia said.

"It all started on the day I was born, sixteen years ago-" Ally cut her off.

"No Lily dear, not that far back".

"Oh. Well, it started the morning of Halloween when Ally woke up to a most terrifying sight. The room", she paused dramatically "was moving", she whispered in a deadly voice. "I quickly woke Esmee and Lia up and turned the lights on. The sight that we beheld will traumatise us forever", she said, breaking off into fake tears.

Lia, not wanting to lose the atmosphere quickly continued.

"You don't understand Professor, it was so awful. There were spiders on the floor, scorpions in the bathroom and vampire bats in the air", she finished.

"An in my hair", Ally added in a traumatised whisper. Lia placed a comforting arm around her shoulder and said in an overly concerned voice, "There there, they're gone now".

Esmee then decided to join in;

"Ant they", she pointed an accusing finger at the Marauders who were not looking amused, "The culprits of this traumatic crime, just stood there laughing whilst we suffered", she broke off, flapping her hand in front of her face dramatically, apparently unable to continue. Lily then brought the story home.

"So you see Professor, revenge was necessary", she said in a serious voice, "We turned to _Fizzing Brains_ for comfort. True, there was no alcohol in it, but the sugar", she paused "the secret ingredient! It all got to us, and in our disillusioned state we decided, unwittingly, that the rest of the senior boys in Gryffindor should suffer the same fate – as them", she said, glaring daggers at the Marauders, venom laced in her voice.

As the four girls finished, the Great Hall erupted into applause at the girls' acting skills, all be it slightly over-dramatic.

"We apologise profusely Professors and assure you that this will not happen again, Also, the boys' clothes will be returned shortly – bearing in mind once more that we were not in our right state of mind when we did this", Esmee finished finally.

"Very well girls, I accept your apology and explanation, but I suggest that you go up to your dorm and…recover", he smiled at them, "However I am going to confiscate this drink from you".

Lia looked up with an incredibly vulnerable expression and her lower lip trembled. It also seemed that she wasn't faking it this time.

"Professor…please" she uttered in a small voice.

"I'm sorry, but I must do this. Now up to your dorms".

The girls walked out of the hall, grumbling to themselves, and as the Professors had thought they had left, Lia's head popped back around the door and she leaned back dangerously. Too far in fact, and as she fell, in a chain reaction she dragged Ally, Esmee and Lily with her. Giggles erupted again but this time Lia's voice could be clearly heard.

"Hey what do we have first lesson?" she asked with interest.

Professor Terp answered, a malicious glint in his eyes. "I do believe, Ms Smith, you have potions".

The other three girls groaned loudly but Lia appeared to be in deep thought. Pulling her self and the others up, she counted on her fingers; "Sleep, Twerp, sleep, Twerp", then with a triumphant yell, she said as loudly as possible; "Sorry Twerpie old buddy, sleep wins!! – c'mon girls its bedtime", and with loud woohoo's and cackling the girls ran back out of view and hearing range.

Back in the Great Hall however, Dumbledore cast his eyes on the semi-naked Marauders. Sirius decided this was the time to speak up.

"Surely Albus, you're not going to let them get away with this?" he cried in horror.

"Well I have to agree with the girls, they were most certainly not in their right mind when they did this", he added thoughtfully then, "You four however have no excuse for your behaviour yesterday, therefore you shall all be awarded a weeks detention and twenty points will be taken off Gryffindor".

The boys could only splutter in disbelief and horror.

"But Professors, I've known Esmee all my life. She's a brilliant actress! She just proved it!" James finally managed to say.

"A very interesting young lady indeed - as are her friends. But my punishment remains intact and there will be no arguing".

Sirius was about to protest when a large flock of owls screeched into the hall, carrying the boys' missing clothing. As they flew overhead, one owl dropped a pair of white silk boxers with pink hearts on them on to Sirius' head causing him to blush crimson as his friends had previously.

"We told you they'd be back soon" the voice of Lia was heard through the Hall from the doorway, and she then added to the females in the Great Hall, "Oh and girls, don't you just love Sirius' boxers!?" She smirked evilly at Sirius' glare and ran back up to her dorm room – this time staying there.


	8. Next Day's Embarrassment

Disclaimer: See first chapter

MaxRideRox - you have no idea how happy your review made us! And we're glad it made you laugh, it's one of our faourite ever chapters! Thanks again :)

FarmQueen - hehe Sirius and Lia conflict is so fun to write. But nope Remus definitely likes Ally and Lia only likes Remus as a friend. It's made even clearer in this chapter as well, so sorry about any confusion, and thanks for the review!

GoldenWolf88 - It's our favourite too, so much fun to write! Cheers for still reading this :)

Heidi - I updated sooner than I said we would! Enjoy it!

babington - hello and thanks for the review! We're so glad you like it!

Chapter 8

The rest of the day after that mornings fiasco, was spent sleeping for the girls. The Marauders had wondered around in shock; confused as to why they had been punished despite the fact it was the girls who had been drinking an actual _banned_ substance. The _Fizzing Brains_ had not completely worn off and the girls were still groggily tired as they made their way to the Great Hall the following day. So tired were they that Lily and Lia didn't even notice that their hair was down, causing boys of all houses to take a new interest in the beautiful yet incredibly strange girls. It wasn't until they'd sat down and Ally had been staring openly at Lily, that they noticed something was different.

"What _is_ your problem?" Lily finally asked Ally. Ally made some vague gestures with her hands. Lucky for her Lily knew what she meant straight away.

"Lia, oh my God, our hair's down!" Lily said sounding slightly panicked. She hated how much the mass of fiery red hair always drew out comments. Lia's hand immediately flew to her head, where sure enough her dark hair was like an explosion around her body, as apposed to being in its usual severe ponytail.

"Noooo!" she yelled, and began looking frantically for anything that could secure her hair.

"Eureka!" Lily yelled holding a small, black elastic band in her fist. Before a blink of an eye could take place, Lily's hair was up again and the boys' attention swayed slightly from her, but stayed on Lia. Lia who was having no luck on the hair front finally yelled "Curse it all" in a defeated voice. This caused more looks and attention from people, including the Professors. She smiled apologetically at them, whilst blushing slightly as she attempted to make herself as small as possible in her seat.

Professor Terp, who seemed to have been eagerly awaiting her arrival, had a malicious glint in his eyes and decided to embarrass her further.

"So Smith, are you actually planning on attending my lesson today?" he asked with mock interest. Lia gave him a confused look.

"I don't understand Professor".

"Surely you can remember what you said to me yesterday Ms Smith", he said, the glint in his eyes growing darker, and his anger towards the teenager apparent.

Lia's eyebrows furrowed in concentration as she tried to remember what she'd said. Her face took on a vacant expression, quickly being replaced by a look of dawning horror. She blushed beet red while putting her head in her hands and muttering "Why me?"

"Indeed", Terp said simply, but any pupil who knew him, knew that he wasn't going to make the lesson a pleasing one for Lia that afternoon.

Humiliation engulfed all of the girls as they slowly remembered what had actually taken place, but it wasn't over. Peter had his own bit of personal revenge plan to put into action.

"Hey guys", he asked the Marauders in a loud and clear voice that could be heard around the Hall, "Did you manage to hear what the girls said about you while you were showering?" The boys' faced paled slightly, as they didn't think they could take anymore humiliation. Peter also noticing this added, "oh don't worry, they were very complementary – if not suggestive".

It was at this point that Esmee stood up, and placing both hands on the table and leaning forward, she spoke in a calm and dangerous voice.

"Don't say another word. You do, and you'll regret it".

Peter looked into her violet eyes that were flashing angrily, but he didn't back down. He may sometimes appear timid but he wasn't in Gryffindor for no reason, so with only the slightest shake in his voice he continued.

"Well I may have been in the full body bind, but my hearing was still in working order", he smirked directly in Esmee's face, inwardly flinching at the gleam of mischief that entered her eyes. "After the girls had come back form the showers, they all had cheeky grins on their faces and a comment to make".

James looked at the girls. "You were spying on us?"

Esmee just simply said "yes" and flashed him her very own award winning smile. It was a smile that could make most boys week at the knees, but to James and Sirius who knew her so well, it was a smile that clearly stated 'Don't mess with me'.

Peter then continued. "Well Lia had obviously been watching Ally and Lily closely, as when they appeared from the showers, she asked why they kept looking at you Remus and you James".

'I am so dead', Ally thought as Remus looked over at her with his eyebrows raised.

"What exactly did they say?" James asked with interest.

"Well they both tried to sound insulted at Lia's suggestive comments but they soon gave in. Lily said something like 'Well he was there, and I am a teenage girl, I'm allowed to look', and Ally said she did look, 'for just a second maybe'", he paused to take a breath.

Laughter could be heard, especially form the Gryffindor table, but James and Remus just looked slightly amused and pleased. They grinned at the two blushing girls who were too consumed in their own mortification to see as they mumbled something and quickly fled the Hall. The laughter became more apparent, but Peter continued;

"Apparently Sirius, Quidditch practice has had a good effect on your body, and I believe Esmee's words were, 'Not bad, not bad at all'".

The Marauders turned to look at Lia and Esmee. Esmee just shrugged her shoulders with a slight smile on her face, whilst Lia had a red tint in her face, but wasn't going to show how embarrassed she actually was.

"Who said Quidditch practice has done my body some good?" Sirius asked, his head practically expanding to the size of a beach ball. 'That head isn't going to fit through the door soon', Lia thought.

"Lia first off, but all the girls agreed. Also, I believe Esmee's concluding line was, 'they may be my best friends, but they are _fine_!'" Peter finally finished dealing out the embarrassment, glad he had managed to get his own small personal revenge, but Esmee wasn't finished with him.

"Why are you so interested anyway Peter? Jealous because they're ten times hotter than you?" she pointed out, causing more laughter. Peter turned bright red and sat down, his face set in a dark and moody expression.

"Look I don't have time for this" she continued, "I've got to make it up to bloody Divination, c'mon Lia" she started walking her friend out the Hall, ignoring the protests that Lia didn't even do Divination. As they reached the doors though, Esmee turned back to the Marauders and winked at them.

"Why did you do that?" Lia asked in shock. Esmee shrugged her shoulders, "It keeps them on their toes", she said, leaving the Marauders confused but pleasantly surprised by the girls' reactions. Perhaps things weren't as hopeless as they'd been starting to think.

* * *

After Ally and Lily had managed to leave the Great Hall they had all but sprinted out of hearing range at all of the laughter that was being directed at them. They found sanctuary in a small creaking corridor, little used with rickety stares and uneven stone walls. They came to a halt, completely out of breath as Ally sank to the floor and Lily rested her flaming cheek on the cool stone wall. They simultaneously let out groans of despair.

"That was horrific" Lily mumbled.

"I'm never going to be able to look him in the face again" Ally agreed.

"He's going to think I actually like him!" the red head wailed in despair. "This is practically the end of the world; I'm never going to get rid of him now!!"

Ally just nodded her head in agreement. "Same here, I'm going to have bloody Remus being all _nice_ to me again. 'Oh let me get you a chair Ally, let me carry your books Ally, can I help you with anything Ally', urgh life is so unfair'.

Lily looked at Ally with an incredibly bemused expression.

"Oh yes poor you, to have some guy wanting to look after you like that. At least you don't have an 'Oi Evans, why don't you go out with me so I can say I've dated everyone in this school'" Lily scoffed ruffling up her hair in the 'Potter way' and yet mimicked James' arrogant tone so perfectly she sent Ally into a fit of giggles.

"Lils", she said after she'd finally calmed down, "I know he's a prat but he is besotted with you, maybe just date him once then tell him no? At least then he should stop bothering you".

Lily's eyes narrowed dangerously. "But that's what he wants! Just one date, just to prove he can, he is just like Sirius! And I won't fall for it, and I can't stand people as arrogant as him, you know that".

Noticing Lily's flared nostrils, Ally decided quite sensibly not to pursue that train of thought. She sighed heavily and thought over her predicament with Remus.

"I wish I knew what he was hiding!"

"Um, care to elaborate Ally?" Lily was completely confused by the outburst from her blonde friend.

"Remus! I mean there's something he's not showing, that he's not telling. There's no way some guy can be _that_ nice all the time. He's definitely got an ulterior motive. My senses are good with these things Lil, there's no hiding anything from me".

Lily was about to laugh and completely disagree with that statement but a memory caught her up short. Ally had always warned her about Andrew…she shook her head in annoyance. There was no way she was going to think about him now! She thought over again what Ally had said; was Remus hiding something? Somehow she couldn't see it.

"I dunno Al, I think he's a genuinely nice guy, otherwise I mean Lia wouldn't like him. She practically hates everything that's male".

A small smile flitted across Ally's face. "This is true. Well I'll think on it anyway". They sat in contemplative silence for a while until Lily realised with a shock what the time was.

"Oh my gosh! We're going to be late for first lesson!"

Ally's eyes widened in alarm. "I have Divination, that's in North Tower, how the hell do I get to there from here?" she asked in panic then paused. "Where is 'here' by the way?"

Lily giggled and told her friend which way to go, and after saying their goodbyes they went their separate ways, Ally off to North Tower and Lily off to Ancient Runes.

As she settled down into her seat she mulled over the mornings events, flushing slightly again in embarrassment. She just knew that Potter definitely wasn't going to give up now, no matter how much she wanted him to. Against her will an image of him in the shower flitted across her mind and she buried her face into her arms. Why couldn't she stop seeing that?! Honestly it was enough to drive her mad! Raising her head again in determination, she forced such thoughts out of her mind through sheer will power alone, and got started with the lesson.

* * *

Lunch time rolled around and Lia dived into the awaiting food ravenously. It had been over a day since her last meal and she could feel her strength fading. Besides she needed all the strength she could get with potions coming up that afternoon. The Marauders, who were sat further down the table, kept casting long disbelieving looks at the four girls. Their behaviour had shocked even them, but they were impressed with their skills.

"We should have been better prepared", Sirius moaned.

"I told you they were up to something! But did anyone listen to me? No, I don't think they did!" Remus said angrily.

"Calm down Moony, we'll be better prepared next time", James soothed.

"Well, I hope for our sakes, there won't be a next time", Peter added.

"Oh, there'll be a next time", Sirius declared, "only the little girls won't know what's hit them. They were good, but we misjudged them-" he was cut off by Remus' spluttering.

"_We_ misjudged them? We? There was no we about it Padfoot! This is your entire fault! Myself, James and Peter knew that what they had planned was going to be bad but did you listen?! I don't think so", he broke off, resting his head on the table, appearing to be in the middle of a nervous breakdown.

Lia and Esmee hearing the commotion looked over at Remus and got up to comfort him.

"Remus, you okay?" Lia asked, careful to keep her laughter under control.

Remus opened one eye and glared through it at Lia – he said nothing but the look on his face told her everything she needed to know. Esmee put a hand on his shoulder, giving it a light squeeze.

"Don't worry Remus, Albus is pretty good with the whole therapy thing – go see him", Esmee advised. Lia looked at her friend with a frown on her features.

"How do you know Dumbledore's such a qualified therapist?" she asked.

"Well I don't, but I've heard things", Esmee answered mysteriously but managed to look shifty at the same time. Lia frowned again but carried on with her questioning.

"Also, what's the deal with you calling the Professors by their first names?" she paused in pure horror, "You've been hanging around with the thing for too long", Esmee merely nodded.

"The thing?" Remus and Peter asked in confusion. Lia rolled her eyes; this was getting tedious. She looked at Esmee and James in appeal to get them to explain, both obliging by pointing at Sirius, who rolled his eyes.

"Oh I see", Remus said. Lia decided to change the subject.

"So James, still feeling paranoid?" she asked, receiving a slight nod of the head from James. Esmee on the other hand, looked back and forth at Lia and James as if she was watching a fast paced wizards duel.

"Lia, did you just talk to Jamie…_willingly_?" she asked in mock horror.

"So I did", Lia answered her friend.

"You're going soft aren't you!" Esmee declared.

"No, I've just realised that I can manage to tolerate him", she replied, putting emphasis on the 'tolerate'. Esmee looked at Sirius.

"When did this happen?" she asked.

"Don't ask me, I missed it all too", he answered.

"Well I didn't even know who the thing was", Remus said, still clearly confused and not yet fully recovered form his earlier breakdown. At the mention of his new nickname, Sirius glared angrily at Lia who smiled sweetly in return.

"Esmee I'll talk to you later", James said to his confused blonde friend. Lia, who had finally remembered something, then took Esmee by the elbow a short distance away and said;

"That reminds me, I need your help on a …project I'm working on", casting a sly glance at Remus. Esmee looked interested and said "Oh really". They said their goodbyes and headed in the direction of the dungeons, practically jumping for joy that their next lesson was potions.

* * *

The potions corridor was in its usual cold and miserable state, and it spoke volumes to the students who were about to enter the dungeons. Professor Terp favoured the Slytherins, especially seeing as he was the head of their house, and he took it upon himself to make the Gryfifndor's lives a living hell; especially for three main students.

As Lia took her new place between James and Sirius, she noticed uncomfortably that she was still getting a lot of male attention. 'Spare me' she thought. She was rudely brought back to attention by Sirius' voice.

"So, Quidditch practice has done my body some good eh?" he said cockily.

"Admittedly yes, but I have to say, your package was disappointingly small", she said scathingly, before her face froze in some sort of muted horror. How could those words have even left her mouth, how could she have even _thought them_?!

Sirius' mouth dropped open; he could not believe the nerve of this chick. James winced, knowing that the stinging comment was not going to be taken lightly by his friend. He was thankful that Lia now 'tolerated' him. Sirius for the time being was speechless and James began his interrogation on Lia.

"So", he said in his best interrogating voice, "How did you do it Lia? Was it you?" Lia snorted with laughter and answered, "That is strictly confidential I'm afraid, but for the record it wasn't my idea". James, not giving up, started guessing.

"It was Ally, wasn't it!" he cried triumphantly.

Lia again laughing said "Ally! Oh my God no! That girl can't even arrange her sock draw", she paused, "I mean, it wasn't her this time".

James took another guess. "It was Lily then wasn't it – she was the brains".

"Actually Lily did have a part to play – but wrong again".

James looked shocked and awed at the same time. He turned around and looked at Esmee who listening to something Ally and Lily were saying. Lia looked at James with a grin on his face.

"It was Esmee? She planned all of this?" he asked, disbelief flooding his features.

"Esmee helps to plan most of them James – didn't you know?" she asked in feigned shock.

"But how come you're the third biggest prankster then?" he asked.

"Because I'm the only one stupid enough to carry them out", then realising what she'd just said, added "Wait, I am clever but I'm the only one _brave_ enough to carry them out", she amended.

James started laughing; this girl could be quite funny when she wanted to be. James' laughter brought Sirius back out of his miserable stupor. This chick really knew how to get under his skin.

"I still can't believe that Esmee can give us a run for our money" James said.

"Yeah well, she may look angelic but she's got a scheming mind like the devil", Lia stated.

"Don't I know it", James mumbled.

Suddenly the door burst open, slamming itself on the opposite stone wall. "Silence!!" Terp thundered, immediately getting what he asked for. He set off the day's lesson which was to prepare a bouncing potion, then set out around the class, searching for his next victim. He slowly stopped in front of the 'troublemaker table' and taking heed of Sirius' mournful expression, he pounced.

"So Black, why are you so quiet? What are you plotting?" this caused Lia and James to start laughing uncontrollably. Terp rounded on them.

"What seems so funny? Smith do you know the answer?" he demanded.

"Oh, Sir, he's just a bit upset that he has a small package", Lia said, immediately slapping a hand across her mouth, in shock as to what she had just said to the Potions Master. What was wrong with her today?

Sirius was looking daggers, whilst James was doubled over in fits of hysterical laughter. To their surprise however, Terp merely raised an eyebrow and walked away, eager to examine the Slytherin's work. Lia then turned to see her friends watching her. She bit her lip and saw that Esmee had her head in her hands and was shaking it in disbelief, whilst Lily and Ally were giving her looks that said; 'you strange child'.

The rest of the lesson carried on smoothly, with Terp firing questions at Lia trying to catch her out. Surprisingly however, she got all of them right, leaving a disgruntled Terp to end the class without giving any detentions.

* * *

The Marauders were all sat around the fire in the common room, lazing around and James was watching Remus and Peter fighting it out over a Chess board. Sirius however was still fuming over the potions lesson and needed to vent his anger out on someone. He looked over at his so called best friend, and decided that he'd do for the time being.

"James man, what was the deal with you and the chick in potions today?" he asked.

"What do you mean?" James asked curiously, not taking notice of his friends' mood.

"You know what I mean. Acting all buddy-buddy- and siding with her instead of me – your best friend!" he declared hotly. James merely smirked at his friend.

"Look Sirius, it's like I said before. You've met your match, but I wanted to see if I could be proven wrong – but I wasn't so…" he trailed off when Sirius scowled at him.

"Whatever. I've got homework to do". James nearly fell out of his chair when he heard this. "Are you feeling okay?" he asked in a concerned voice.

"I'm fine, but I've actually got to make a start on my Defence Against the Dark Arts and Care of Magical Creatures projects".

James smirked again. "You do realise that means you have to work with Lia don't you?" he stated.

Sirius gritted his teeth in frustration and muttered "dammit", but gathered his things together and sauntered over to where Lia sat.

"Yo, chick, c'mon we've got work to do", he stated.

"You mean you're actually going to work this time?" Lia asked in a bored done, but instead of an insult, Sirius grunted and turned away to find a table. Lia groaned as she picked up her books and followed Sirius across the room, to participate in another insult match that she knew she was going to win.

James, seeing that Sirius was now fully detained and therefore wouldn't be there to mock him, decided to ask Remus to help him again into becoming more of a gentleman. They snuck quietly out of the common room until they found a deserted classroom.

"Look James it's like I've been telling you, it's the little things that count. Like holding the door open for her, or pulling her chair out so she can sit down, carrying her books…you have to pay attention to detail", Remus stated. James grimaced slightly.

"Can you imagine what Lily would do if I tried to take her books form her?"

Remus let out a chuckle at the image that sprang to mind. "Right you have a point, maybe leave that for a bit later and just start with the chair thing first. Look let's practice now. I'll pretend to be Lily and you help me get seated at the desk".

James raised a highly sarcastic eyebrow at his friend but decided to go along with it. He really did need all the help he could get.

They walked towards the desk and James reached out to grab the chair, accidentally bumping Remus' arm.

"Merlin Potter can't you watch where you're going?" Remus bit out in a girly voice and gave an imaginary flick of his hair, fully getting into the role of 'being Lily'. Silence prevailed for all of a second before James burst out laughing, with Remus joining in. They tried approaching the desk again, each time James doing something that would cause Remus to lash out Lily style at him. After about a half hour, James had managed to seat 'Lily' at the desk without getting yelled at.

"Well it's a start at least" Remus said, talking in his normal voice. "All though you know I can't guarantee it will work if Ally is anything to go by", he finished miserably.

James sat down next to his friend and sighed.

"I know, I don't understand it Moony, but I guess we've just got to keep trying. They'll realise eventually that we're being sincere".

"Well I certainly hope so", Remus replied, although a frown stayed on his face. What else could he possibly do to get Ally to trust him?

James stood up suddenly then, trying to shake off his gloomy thoughts. He was learning, slowly it was true, how to be a true gentleman, and no matter how long it took he was determined to win Lily over!

"C'mon Moony let's get back to the common room and check that Sirius is still alive".

Remus broke out into a grin, and chuckling they left the empty class room.


	9. Confrontations and Coming Stuck

Disclaimer: JKR and Warner brothers own everything apart from Ally, Lia and Esmee, and any other random people we have created.

MaxRideRox – thanks again for the review! Yay that you think it's one of the best HP stories! We had such big grins on our faces because of that. Lia and Sirius are indeed awesome, sometimes they keep trying to take over the story! We hope you enjoy this chapter just as much.

FarmQueen – cheers for reviewing! Here's another chapter for you!

Heidi – you rock for still reading this! We have even more new bits in this chap for you to. Hope you aren't still getting too stressed with exams and what not so here's another chapter to cheer you up! And we always get strange looks :P

Chapter 9

It had been a few weeks now since the girls had pulled the prank on the boys, but people had not made any effort to forget it, especially the four Marauders. Time was dragging on, and they still hadn't come up with a prank daring enough to pull on their female comrades. One good thing had come from the boys' humiliation though, and that was that when Remus could hear something, or that his instincts were working overdrive, they should definitely listen to him.

The Gryffindor common room was in its usual zoo like state, leaving the boys unable to concentrate and come up with a satisfying plan that night. It was in this time that James decided to go and see Esmee and put his…proposition to her. It was one, he thought, that would definitely meet her approval – the girl could never turn down a good scheme. He left Sirius, Remus and Peter arguing over a new idea that Sirius had come up with.

"Sirius, we want to humiliate the girls, not put them in a full body cast for the rest of their lives!" Remus objected loudly, getting funny looks from some second year students.

"Couldn't we do both?" Sirius asked hopefully.

"Yeah, I mean they put me in the full body _bind_, what's the difference?" Peter asked with a mischievous glint in his watery blue eyes.

Remus turned to James for help and support, seeing as he had stopped dead in his tracks and was looking at his friends dubiously.

"Guys, they're our friends. True they embarrassed us in front of the whole school, but we don't want to kill them", James pointed out. Sirius and Peter looked unconvinced however so James played the apocalypse card.

"Peter, how could you go on, knowing that you had caused serious harm to Esmee?" he asked with eyebrows raised.

Peter had obviously not thought of this and as he ran a hand through his straw like hair, he kept opening and closing his mouth trying to find something to say.

"Well I wouldn't be too happy with that either Prongs", Remus piped up, catching on to James' plan.

Neither would I Moony, would you Sirius?" James asked his other best friend.

"Of course not, Esmee means a lot to me and I'd die before any harm came to her", he replied. James smiled with satisfaction – that was until Sirius said "But they all must suffer. No one makes fools of the Marauders and gets away with it!" he declared, leaving James sighing and walking towards the girls' dormitories.

* * *

Ally and Lily had decided to go the library that evening, and with heads bowed and whispering furiously together they left Esmee and Lia free to talk schemes. When it came to planning and scheming, Esmee was the best and usually had a new one every week. Tonight was no exception as she and Lia talked about Remus and Ally.

"Ally isn't interested, she's made that point clear more than once and is stubborn enough to stick to it", Esmee recapped in a business like manner.

"Ally doesn't know what's good for her", Lia said with a shake of her head, sending her black hair rippling around her. When she was alone in the room with her friends, Lia didn't mind wearing her hair down. It was when they were in public and people gaped at her that she had to do something to repel the attention.

"I'm also aware of that, but you know as well as I do, that if we keep forcing Al to do something she doesn't want, she'll get mad and refuse to go anywhere near Remus", Esmee said.

"I know, I know. What are we going to do?" she asked.

Esmee's face took on a mischievous expression and she beckoned Lia to come closer. They were alone, but there was no telling who could pop up at anytime.

"We're going to have to keep pushing them together, subtly of course. Like, one day you can get them to work on the Defence Against the Dark Arts project, and when we go to Hogsmeade and things, we'll sneak off – leaving them alone; its things like that - subtle. We can't be obvious about this Lia okay? It doesn't sound like much but it pays off in the end", she got a sly look on her face then and looked at Lia who seemed to be paying close attention. "Who do you think got Frank Longbottom and Alice Chalmers together?" she asked referring to the two most stubborn and romantically clueless people in the year above.

Lia looked down for a moment, a bemused frown on her features. She then looked up and gasped, shock and admiration glowing in her blue eyes.

"Wow, you _are_ good", she said finally.

Esmee smiled modestly, "Oh I know".

"There's another couple I have in mind", Lia said mysteriously causing Esmee to raise an eyebrow at her usually unobservant friend.

"Oh? We are on form tonight", she said getting a light punch on the arm from Lia.

"Lily and James", Lia said simply, worried when Esmee started laughing, clutching a hand to her ribs. "Not a good idea?" Lia asked confused.

"Au contraire my dark haired friend, I'm already in the process of that one", Esmee answered finally.

"Is there anyone you aren't trying to pair up at the moment?" but Esmee's violet eyes merely twinkled secretly.

"So genius, how do you plan on getting those two together? Unless she's with us, Lily is as conservative as a politician talking to a reporter", Lia said cynically.

"The same way as with Ally and Remus. James has already started the changing process; Lils just needs to give him a chance. But I have faith, that with the help of us, they'll get together – eventually", Esmee said confidently.

"Eventually?" Lia asked.

"Afraid so, you can't rush the art of love", Esmee said flicking through a notebook and crossing something off. Lia snorted in disgust.

"Love? What's love?" she asked philosophically.

"Ask Sirius, I'm sure he'd be willing to show you", Esmee smirked getting another punch on the arm from Lia. "Must you keep hitting me?"

"Yes" Lia answered simply. Esmee was about to reply to that when a light knock came from the door.

"Not interrupting anything am I?" James asked politely, noticing how the girls had silenced as soon as they'd seen him hovering in the doorway. 'Not usually the sort of welcome I get' he thought sardonically.

Esmee smiled warmly. "Ah Jamie, I've been expecting you".

"You have?" he asked in surprise.

"Well you have kept saying that you needed to talk to me about something, so I suppose it's clearer to say that I'm always expecting you", Esmee replied, nodding with satisfaction at her answer.

"Ri…ght", James said, a frown present on his brow.

"Lia do you mind if we continue this tomorrow?" Esmee asked, noticing that James kept looking at her and back at Lia as if trying to get rid of her.

"No probs", Lia said getting up and leaving the room as she twister her long hair back up into a ponytail.

Esmee turned to James and taking up the same business like tone she'd used earlier with Lia asked; "So what can I do for you?"

"I have a proposition to put to you", he said.

Esmee looked interested and said, "What sort of proposition?"

"Sirius and Lia", James said bluntly. 'They get an idea and they think they're all fit for scheming' she thought to herself.

"My my, we are all meddling tonight. And excuse me dear one, but wasn't it you who told me to stop meddling between those two?" she asked, recapping on a previous discussion she'd had with him.

"Okay, yes but I think you could be on to something here, and what do you mean 'we are all meddling'?" he asked baffled.

"Nothing at all, and of course I'm on to something, I don't waste time on projects that I know are going to fail", Esmee quipped.

"Fine, I'm on board." James said.

"What made you change your mind?" Esmee asked curiously. James shrugged his shoulders and ran a hand through his black as per usual messy hair.

"I don't know really. It's just the way they're always bickering and wanting revenge on the other. I don't know Lia that well, but I'm starting to get a better idea of her character, and from what I can see, it's very much like Sirius'" James finished.

"He's met his match; I've known that for a while now".

"I've said exactly the same thing to him before, but you know Sirius, he doesn't think that anyone can tough him", James said snorting. Esmee looked at James and smiled, causing him to frown.

"Why are you smiling like that at me?"

She laughed at her friend and touched his hand fondly.

"You've always thought the same Jamie. You and Sirius are practically the same. You have brains, looks, girls falling at your feet; why do you say that in disbelief about Sirius when I know that you've always thought the same?"

James looked at the blonde opposite him. Only Esmee could make him look at things in a different perspective from the way he wanted. She was like Remus, surprisingly wise and knowing.

"I am like Sirius, but I do have more maturity than him and I'm also trying to change. By the way thanks for being so blunt with me", he finished sarcastically.

"What do you mean?" Esmee asked in feigned innocence.

"Lia was also blunt", he carried on. "But I think that was a good thing, because now she says she can 'tolerate' me", he smiled slightly.

Esmee's grin grew wider at the remembrance of how Lia had spoken to James willingly the other day. It was a great change from Lia only ever talking to Remus.

"'Tolerate' is Lia's way of saying that you're now friends. She just doesn't want to admit it because before she couldn't stand you".

"I'm glad though, she's not that bad", James admitted.

"I know", Esmee said – her grin still not fading. James coughed slightly.

"So tonight it the beginning of Sirius and Lia's schemed relationship – are we agreed?" he asked extending his hand. Esmee shook it but also added;

"Jamie must you use the term schemer or meddler? I prefer to be called a pre-determined even facilitator", she finished making James laugh.

"Whatever", he said leaving the room.

Esmee started flicking through her notebook again and put a tick next to the names _Sirius and Lia_. Thing were definitely starting to come together.

* * *

Lily sat at a dark oak desk by herself in the library, glaring slightly across the tables at Ally who had abandoned any pretence of work and was giggling quietly with a group of Hufflepuff Qudditch players, one of which was Amos Diggory who Ally had liked for quite a while.

Huffing slightly to herself the red head bent again over her work, absolutely determined that she could complete the ancient runes translation even if it killed her. She'd known that the NEWTS course would obviously be harder then anything she'd studied before, but it was the sheer quantity that was getting to her. She was a perfectionist and just had to get everything right, even when she was graded an E on her work she felt the slight trembling of panic; why hadn't she gotten an O?

It was feeling like this that got her so angry with James Potter. He just didn't seem to try. Even on their Defence Against the Dark Arts project he was just so relaxed and carefree, it was that he just didn't _care_ about his school work that Lily couldn't fathom.

She crossed out her work angrily, seeing that she'd gotten it wrong and almost stabber her quill through the parchment. Why on earth was she thinking about him again? He'd been very strange these past few weeks; holding doors open for her, making sure she was seated before he sat. As a matter of fact he was behaving like the perfect gentleman and all of this without the arrogant smirk and overbearing confidence that usually sent her into a rage. What Lily really wanted to know was who had abducted the real James Potter and replaced him with this far more likeable character.

Lily frowned to herself. Had she just thought that she liked the new James? And why was she thinking of him as James and not Potter? She was truly getting frustrated at herself and an angry gleam appeared in her eyes as the boy of her thoughts materialised right in front of her.

"Erm, hello Lily", he hesitated as she narrowed her hard emerald eyes at him. "Is it alright if we work on our Defence project now?" he finished with an inquiring smile.

"Can't you see that I'm extremely busy Potter?" she spat that out perhaps more angrily then she'd meant to, but he'd gone from annoying her in person to bothering her thoughts now and she had to take the frustration out on someone.

"Well yes, its just that I have Quidditch practice tomorrow evening and we need to hand in the work we've done in so far the day after and if we don't review it now then we won't have time…" he trailed off as she pursed her lips in thought.

"Fine", she sighed heavily as though this was a great concession and began moving her books into one pile so as to make room for him.

"Thank you", he said quietly and sat next to her, his face passive as though knowing that even the slightest wrong move would make her truly lose her temper with him.

They worked steadily and quietly for about an hour, and Lily was so engrossed in her work she hardly noticed Ally leaving, and definitely missed the knowing grin on her blonde friends face. Lily had been pleasantly surprised that since their last attempt of working on the project, James really had gotten a lot done so in what went too quickly for James, they finished up what they had to do before they handed in the mid year review.

"What's the betting Sirius and Lia haven't even started this" James said with a small smile, desperately trying to find some neutral ground on which to talk to the red head without starting a fight. He was rewarded with a smile that made his heart flutter.

"Probably not" she agreed then sighed slightly "Guess I'll have to remind her of it tonight".

A silence descended on them then that wasn't entirely comfortable, so Lily quickly started packing up her things, wanting to escape from the boy next to her. James got ready to leave to and much to her dismay it appeared he was determined to walk her back to the common room.

They walked quickly back through the halls, James desperately trying to get a conversation going but Lily was only providing one word answers. She knew she was being rude but this change in James was highly disconcerting and she definitely wasn't willing to start being friendly with him when she was still so suspicious of him, but she was at least willing to be civil. Before she would have ignored him completely.

They rounded the corner into a hall filled with suits of armour and Lily bit back a chuckle at the sight of two familiar figures about half way down.

"What do you two think you are doing? Defacing school property is against the rules" she yelled out in her best prefects voice making James start and the two figures shriek in surprise before breaking out into giggles.

"We aren't defacing it Lils" Ally called back as Lily and James carried on approaching them.

"Oh so what are you doing?" Lily asked with a stern gaze as she finally faced her friends and Ally buried her giggling face in to Lia's shoulder. James looked on in amusement as Lia grinned a charming smile, whilst desperately trying to hide something behind her back.

"Nothing Lils, nothing at all. At least nothing _you _need to know about. What you don't know can't hurt you and all that".

Lily was looking incredibly sceptical. "I don't know why I bother with you two", she said in resignation. Ally giggled again.

"We're lost causes didn't you know?" the blonde asked before darting her gaze between Lily and James and smirked at her friend.

Lily rolled her eyes but for some bizarre reason felt herself fighting back a blush.

"Well whatever, just don't tell me what you're up to!"

"Don't worry we wont" Lia reassured her before grabbing Ally's arm and they sprinted off down the corridor laughing to themselves.

"They're really strange" James commented and Lily was about to jump to their defence but found herself agreeing. I mean there was no denying it really now was there? "I mean Peter told me they kept doing stuff to suits of armour but I didn't actually believe him" James continued, making Lily giggle despite herself.

"They were probably just trying to scare him" she reassured him as they carried on walking. Despite herself she found that she was swapping stories with James, and the more she talked about her friends with him, she found the less angry she was getting. Soon enough they reached the common room and Lily entered with a small smile. She still didn't like James but maybe now she wouldn't have to fight with him so much anymore.

* * *

She was walking around the castle grounds, taking in every detail that she would need for their plan to succeed. Darkness was being used as a blanket to hide her from view; if anyone looked out of the window they may see a shadow – nothing more. Dressed all in black to help her blend into the night, she raised her head slightly and fixed a penetrating look on the room, where four unsuspecting girls slept. She smiled a cruel smile and with no apparent movement, walked back to the forest where she waited, and watched.

* * *

Sirius sat bolt upright in bed and clapped his hands together in glee. He had it! The perfect plan. He turned his bedside lamp on and yelled at the top of his lungs;

"Wake up!! I have a plan, a cunning plan that will amaze and astound you!" He was answered by grunts of annoyance and the occasional swear word but he was unfazed and continued to rant. "Now guys, I'm not getting any younger over here!"

"No but you may be less alive when I get my hands on you!" James shouted back.

"Threats Prongs? C'mon, I've got an idea and we need to get down to the Great Hall right now!" he concluded. He finally got bored of yelling at the boys and uttered one last comment. "Would you rather I let you float above the floor again?" he was answered by more grunts but the other Marauders quickly got out of bed and followed Sirius to the door. He had already collected the supplies they were going to need for the prank, and he led the way to the Great Hall.

"Sirius what exactly are we doing?" Peter asked moodily, trying to rub is eyes awake.

"We're going to give the girls a sticky surprise my friends", he answered laughing manically.

He knew exactly where the girls sat and slowly started to apply long lasting, VERY strong glue on the girls' seats. By the morning the glue would go unnoticed but the strength of it would remain intact, and even if the person managed to free themselves from it, it would remain invisible on their clothes for hours afterwards. Each of the boys picked a seta to glue – Sirius picking Lia's whilst muttering "take that you prankster wannabe". They left silently, but all of them were wearing the same satisfied grin that would probably appear again when the girls sat down to breakfast.

* * *

'Breakfast, the most important meal of the day', Lia thought happily. Eating was definitely one of her favourite past times and she was so engrossed in eating that she didn't notice anything different about her usual seat. Suddenly John Cantrell, the Ravenclaw seeker, came walking towards the Gryffindor table with a determined look on his face.

Lia looked over at him but didn't think anything of it as he passed the 'popular' girls of Gryffindor and stopped by her friends. 'Must be for Ally', Lia thought automatically. She was the one they always wanted. But, surprisingly he walked round to the other side of the table and _then_ stopped. 'Okay, so it's Esmee then', she thought again. They usually went for one or the other. But she was proved wrong again when he placed a hand on _her_ shoulder, causing her to stiffen up immediately, and started speaking.

"Hi, you probably don't know me but I couldn't help noticing you the other day", he seemed oblivious to her rigid stance under his hand. Lia looked up at John with raised eyebrows trying to keep the discomfort from her face, and to ignore the feel of his hand. It was her stupid hairs fault, attracting all this attention; this was why she never wore it down in public. "I realise this is forward but I was wondering if you wanted to get together the next time we're in Hogsmeade?" he inquired.

Lia, eyebrows still raised smiled but placed a defiant lace in her voice. "No thank you", she said simply. The poor guy looked slightly taken aback and mumbled "Oh okay", before walking back to his table.

Many girls who would've killed to go out with him, as he could give the Marauders a run for their money in the looks department, scowled at Lia and began muttering about how rude she had been.

"We need to work on your people skills", Esmee commented.

"I said no _thank you_, isn't that polite enough?" Lia asked, but the returning looks she received clearly said that it wasn't. "Okay then you three, how do you let them down?"

Lily looked a little sheepish. "Actually you know maybe I shouldn't give you any advice on this, my track record with James isn't exactly going to provide you with good examples".

Lia grinned at her friend, noting that she'd said James and not Potter. Ally had noticed it to and was about to point it out to her friend but Esmee cut her off. Lily was making unconscious progress in starting to like James, and Esmee didn't want her noticing too soon.

"Well Lia I usually say that I've already got plans or some assignments to do, but that another time would be great, what about you Ally?" Esmee asked.

"Well I vary my excuses. Sometimes like Esmee I say I've got an assignment, or then if he's hot I'll say another time maybe, you know, not to sound too desperate", she stopped and thought for a moment longer. "But if he's minging, I'll say I've got a boyfriend or that I'm training to be a nun and dating is against the rules!" she declared with a grin making the girls howl with laughter.

Whilst they were still giggling, four girls from Slytherin started on their way over to the table. Narcissa Black, the leader of the group was in front. She was the younger sister of Bellatrix Black, a truly cruel girl, who had graduated the year before, and the cousin of Sirius, not that you would ever know it. They generally went out of their way to ignore each other. Tossing her white blonde hair behind her shoulders, her could ice blue eyes flashed dangerously. Behind her were Rose Parkinson – dark haired with brown eyes, Eliza Lestrange – the younger sister of the Lestrange brothers, dark rumours always circulated about that family, her red hair was much darker than Lily's and she had strange grey eyes. Finally there was Willow Banks, she had dirty blonde hair and hazel eyes and was the quietest of the four. They stopped at the girls' side of the table and Esmee knew that they weren't in for a pep rally, casting a look at some of the Gryffindor girls. Narcissa stood there, sneering at Lia.

"Bet you think you're pretty cool don't you, with your fan club and smart-arse mouth", she quipped in a cold voice. Lia then tried to stand up, but something on her chair was preventing her from doing so. Knowing that something wasn't right she covered it up by smiling sweetly at Narcissa.

"Narcissa, you're going to have to bleach your hair again I think – your roots are showing" she stated causing Narcissa to throw a hand to her head and smooth it down in worry.

"Say that to my face", she spat back.

"I think I just did" Lia replied in mock confusion.

"_Stand up_ and say that to my face".

Esmee, also noticing something was wrong with the chairs, answered for her friend in a bored voice;

"Now why would she want to waste her effort?"

Rose's head then snapped to attention, focusing her dark eyes on Esmee.

"I don't believe she was talking to you – Esmeralda", she stated, causing Esmee to look darkly at the girl who had used her full name.

"And I don't think I was talking to _you_ Rose – so it seems we're both suffering from communication problems", she said.

"Maybe you girls should run along now, before the sight of you nauseates us any longer", Ally said joining in.

"Maybe you should shut your mouth, before I shut it for you", Eliza said threateningly.

"I'm so sure", Lily scoffed, causing Willow to fix a stare on her and say in a very quiet voice; "Nobody asked you _mudblood_".

Lily's face tightened as she tried to hide the hurt she felt at that comment, but was unable to come up with a comeback of her own.

"You got a problem with muggles?" Lia asked dangerously, coming to her friends defence.

"Yes, I think I do", Willow said defiantly.

"Well I've got a problem with Slytherin bitches, so what are we going to do about it?"

By this point the whole of the Gryffindor table had silenced. McGonagall, also noticing the sudden quietness and who could spot a fight a mile off, made her way over to the table.

"What seems to be the problem here?" she asked in her crisp voice, fixing her eyes on Lia and Willow.

"Nothing Professor, Willow and her friends were just leaving", Lily spoke up, facing the Slytherins with a defiant look, making sure there was no quiver in her voice.

Narcissa tapped Willow on the shoulder and made a gesture that implies 'let's go', but not before muttering "this isn't over". Esmee, who had been closest to her heard and replied "Oh I hope not".

Professor McGonagall looked satisfied and made her way back to the Professor's table. Lia immediately dropped the smile.

"What's going on with these flaming chairs?"

"What do you mean?" Lily asked as she hadn't noticed that they were stuck, being to consumed with anger at the Slytherin's .

"Lily we're stuck – pretty good as well", Esmee said, trying to move around a bit. Lily then also tried and then scowled at the Marauders whose grins threatened to take over their faces.

"Impressive", Ally commented also looking over at them.

"Why thank you", Sirius answered back, his dark eyes twinkling impishly.

"What about lessons? We can't sit here all day!" Lily cried out in despair. A piece of hair had found its way out of her ponytail and was now lying across her cheek. James' hand itched to push it back behind her ear, but he clenched his first and carried on watching the girls _try_ and move.

"Hey you're right Lils! Maybe this won't be so bad" Lia said relaxing a bit, and smiling a smile that she knew would get under Sirius' skin.

Esmee also trying to move and getting more frustrated by the minute finally yelled;

"That's it! You've had your fun but I'm sure as hell not sitting here all day!" The boys looked at her with worry on their faces. Just what was she going to do? "Albus we need help over here!" she yelled at the Headmaster. He shook his head slightly at the eight students who were stood (or sat in the girls' case) around the Gryffindor table. _Now_ what was the problem?

"How may I be of service my dears?" The Headmaster asked pleasantly once he'd arrived, standing before them in his silvery blue robes.

"By getting rid of whatever's holding us in place please Sir", Ally answered.

There was laughter coming form the other houses and Lily could feel her face go red again. She looked up into the enchanted sky whilst Dumbledore figured out what spell was needed. The sky was blue and sunny, almost inviting, as if she could be taken up into it at any moment. It was then that Dumbledore bellowed out the same incantation Lia had used to get rid of the bats and other nasty creatures in their room on Halloween.

"Finite Incantatum!"

Then the girls, who had been desperately trying to pull themselves up, sprang upwards like coiled springs.

"Thank you Sir", Lily said, relieved that she wasn't going to have to miss classes.

They got up and gathered their things, shooting one last evil look at each of the marauders. The boys looked disappointed, but didn't say anything until the headmaster had left to go to his office. Sirius turned to his friends, scowling deeply.

"Damn it! That was a good prank – it could've lasted until second lesson!" he protested.

"We're just lucky we didn't get detention – again!" Remus declared.

"Yeah Sirius, we were lucky, and don't forget the glue is still on them" Peter added.

Sirius, his eyes narrowed moodily, turned to James who had a thoughtful yet impish look on his face.

"What are you thinking James?" Remus asked cautiously – he knew the look well.

"Sirius is right", he said simply, causing 'huh's?' of confusion to escape the others mouths – including Sirius'. "He's right, it _was_ a good prank. I sort of figured that Dumbledore would get involved which was why I wasn't as excited as the rest of you".

"Okay so we didn't think big enough, what now?" Peter asked – still confused.

"Well we know that the glue won't wear off for the rest of the day, but they know the spell to stop it, so how about we just make them….forget" he finished innocently, but quickly ruined it by breaking out into an evil grin.

"So every lesson they sit down and can't get free – I say that would most definitely get annoying!" Remus agreed, also grinning.

"Exactly - and also humiliating" James finished.

Peter was looking dubious however. "James it's a good idea, but we're not with them all day and in every lesson – how do we make them forget every time?"

James thought for a moment and then with a click of the fingers he muttered a spell and pointed his wand at the girls who were loitering by the doors of the Great Hall.

"What did you do?" Remus asked in a slightly worried tone. The whole prank war had unsettled his nerves, especially now he knew what the girls were capable of – total humiliation.

"It was just a spell I remembered; it's one that makes people forget but only a specific then. I just made sure it was the incantation they'll forget! Mwahahaha!" James replied laughing evilly, taking the laugh from Esmee when she giggled manically. The boys looked at James with worried looks as he was still letting out the random 'mwahahaha'. Sirius however looked at his friend, respect in his face.

"So what do you think Padfoot?" James asked, still incredibly pleased with himself.

"I can't believe I didn't think of it myself! It's brilliant!" he cried happily. They all laughed then (in mwahahaha style) eager to get to classes for a change.

* * *

By the fourth lesson, it was getting tedious. The first lesson they had all split their separate ways, each oblivious to the glue still on their clothes. They had all sat down and all had to face the humiliation of not being able to get up, and through the laughter of their class mates had to all but beg the Professor teaching them to release them. Their second and third lessons followed a similar vein, and it was getting tedious until all they seemed to be able to hear was laughter and the grins of the Marauders flashing at them from across the room.

They then moved onto fourth lesson which was charms. By then many people would have thought _not_ to sit down after what had been happening all day, but not the girls. They sat down and were immediately stuck. People started laughing and pointing, leaving the girls red with humiliation. Professor Flitwick, stood on his usual pile of books, even tried to put a levitation spell on them to lift them off their chairs but it backfired, lifting him up instead of them. That was when it had become _tedious_.

The final lesson was potions and the girls didn't even bother trying to explain to Terp what was going on, he would definitely not be understanding or sympathetic. When the bell ran, they just got up taking the stools with them. The laughter had been nearly unbearable, as once again the four girls were unable to remember the spell. Before the other Professors had helped them, now it was up to them.

When they finally got to their dorm that night, revenge had once again reared its ugly head. Hours passed by with no idea at all, until the clock struck Midnight and Esmee got an evil, mischievous light in her eyes that informed the others that she had a plan. 'Oh yes', she thought, 'revenge is sweet, and this prank will be the one to win the war!'


	10. Revenge mark two

**Disclaimer:** See first chapter

**A/N:** a long overdue update I know, but we hope you all enjoy it. Would love it if you guys could review and let us know what you think! – Yav & SunStar

Chapter 10

The night seemed to inspire the four girls in their pranks and schemes and tonight was no exception. The evil mischievous light that had appeared in Esmee's eyes hadn't faded and the girls were dying to hear her plan for revenge.

"Okay Esmee, spill – we know you're dying to tell us the idea", Lia said impatiently. The evil laughter, that seemed to be increasing every day, escaped from Esmee's lips, leaving her to cough slightly and regain some of her composure.

"Well, mwahaha, come hither", she beckoned the girls to gather around. She quickly went over the plan and the girls couldn't conceal their laughter any longer – putting Remus quickly on alert.

~ Down in the common room ~

"Did you hear that?" Remus asked in a strangled voice. He had been listening intently to see if any noises had been coming from the girls' dormitories and was quickly snapped to attention when laughter floated out of them. The other boys were paying little attention to him at this point – a grievous mistake on their part – but Remus proceeded in expressing his fears. The boys looked at the sensible Marauder, convinced that his mind was playing tricks on him. He had become more wound up and anxious since the girls' pranks, and was determined they wouldn't make a fool out of him again.

"What are you going on about this time Moony?" James asked scratching his head as he lay sprawled on one of the deep red sofa's in the common room.

"Laughter", Remus paused. "Noises. The girls are up to something again; I can feel it…hear it". His eyes were intense as he stated his case, but he didn't think the others really believed him.

"Okay. Well, can you hear anything now?" James asked his overly paranoid friend as his senses were better than the others'.

"Well…no, not right now – but I did!" he added hastily when glancing at his friends' sceptical looks. He knew he was probably overreacting, but he couldn't be too careful. The prank they pulled was enough humiliation for one lifetime.

"I'm sure you did, but they've probably gone to bed now – we're safe", Peter soothed, leaving Remus to sigh with relief and now wearily. Panicking all the time was definitely taking its toll on the poor guy.

"You're probably right, I mean why would they choose tonight; a good prank takes a lot of planning", he said in a tone that sounded as though he trying to convince himself rather than his friends.

"Right. Get some sleep Moony, who knows what tomorrow will bring?" Sirius asked chuckling slightly. He had _no_ idea.

~ Back in the Girls' Dorm ~

Lia had been searching around the room for about twenty minutes, tossing the odd sock or jumper over her shoulder and still not getting closer to what she was looking for. The room was in such a mess; she couldn't even remember what colour the carpet was. All four girls were messy and they kept putting off the cleaning as it took too much time and effort. Tonight was one of those nights when Lia regretted not tidying up and made a resolution to do so in the future.

"Lia, have you found whatever the hell it is you're looking for yet?" Ally asked with a bit of impatience.

"No, I haven't, and if you cleaned up once in a while, maybe I would've found it by now", Lia retorted, just as impatient.

"Me? Your side of the room is worse than all ours put together!" Ally shot back, earning a glare from Lia.

"Well at least I know how to arrange things. Your side reflects your brain and thoughts – chaotic, jumbled up and a mess!" Lia yelled causing Ally's mouth to drop and gasp. Before she could summon a reply, Lily stepped in.

"Children! Now is not the time or the place – so save it for another occasion!" she yelled, leaving Ally only to throw dirty looks in Lia's direction now and again. Another ten minutes passed when there was a triumphant yelp and an "aha!" from Lia as she jumped back on the bed, holding an old battered book open for them all to see.

"A charm to seal your spells for twenty four hours", Lily read out excitedly, brushing her hair behind her ear as she leant forward to get a closer look.

"So?" Ally asked moodily, chewing on the end of her hair. Lia looked exasperated with her cousin, so Lily explained, trying to ward off another bickering match.

"When we've finished with the prank, we can seal it so it can't be removed for a whole day". Ally begrudgingly looked impressed.

"What do you think Esmee?" Lia asked her friend who had been sat in silence with a thoughtful expression on her face, her hazel eyes seeming to look at something far away.

"We're going to have to cast another spell so they won't wake up while we're doing it though. Does anyone know any?" she asked in a worried tone. It was a good plan and she didn't want to let it go to waste over a minor detail like this. Lily and Ally however were looking at each other with sly and mischievous looks on their faces. Clearly they knew how to handle spells in situations like this.

"Leave that to us!" Ally exclaimed, slapping Lily's hand in a high five.

"How do you know what to do?" Lia asked, confused as ever. Lily, still looking sly asked;

"Remember back in fourth year when the Slytherin bints were taunting and annoying us in Transfiguration really badly that time?"

Lia and Esmee both thought for a moment, and then with a frown and a half smile as they knew what was coming nodded.

"Well the reason they collapsed on their desks and couldn't be woken up for two hours was because Al and I put a sleeping spell on them", Lily finished. They all laughed, quieter than last time, remembering the lesson. The Slytherin girls had gotten detention for a month due to insolence towards a Professor, and to this day they were asked snidely by McGonagall if they needed a bed to study in. As the laughter subsided, Esmee asked if they were ready and pulling out a long silver cloak, beckoned the girls to gather closer. The other three walked closer, but their eyes didn't leave the cloak Esmee was holding in her hands.

"Esmee what's that?" Lily asked, fingering the cloak that was almost like liquid. Esmee shrugged and wrapped it around her shoulder so that only her head could be seen. The sight was eerie to say the least, and the girls had to contain their gasps.

"Sweet Merlin! It's an invisibility cloak!" Ally gasped in a loud whisper.

"I heard they were really rare!" Lily exclaimed, her green eyes sparkling as she touched the air around Esmee's body cautiously. Lia walked around Esmee with wide eyes, wanting to know why her friend suddenly possessed an invisibility cloak.

"So, where'd you get it?" she asked still walking around. Esmee shrugged, or at least that's what the girls thought she'd done, seeing as they couldn't actually see her shoulders, and said;

"Oh I borrowed it from Jamie earlier today".

They looked at her with scepticism, knowing all too well what had really happened.

"Does James know you have it?" Lily asked, still sceptical. Esmee thought for a moment trying to come up with a more complex way of saying no. She couldn't.

"No", she said laughing, "but I thought it would come in handy if the boys woke up before we had time to cast the spell, we'd be hidden".

"Good plan!" Lia approved. "Right, let's go get 'em", she added as they all gathered around the cloak.

Esmee's face took on a serious expression for a moment.

"Look guys, please don't let Jamie know that you know about this cloak. He's awfully secretive about it; I don't think I should be even showing it to you now! Promise you won't tell anyone about it, not even him?"

Ally, Lily and Lia all exchanged quick glances before saying in unison;

"We promise".

The serious moment aside, grins threatened to break over their faces again as they all huddled under the cloak. It was time for their revenge to take place!

~ In the Boys' Dorm ~

They seemed to be sleeping, but looks could be deceiving, so as soon as the girls walked in the room, still cloaked, Ally and Lily began to chant the sleeping spell. The boys didn't look any different on the outside, but on the inside their dreams were becoming deeper and more intense; one of the side effects of the sleeping spell. Esmee pulled the cloak from around them and surveyed the room carefully before speaking.

"Let's get to work girls".

"Right boss!" Lily yelled giggling, her excitement and nerves bubbling over. They quickly moved around to make over a boy, with Esmee adamant she wasn't going to anywhere near Peter.

"I am not touching that!" she cried in disgust. The girls thought this was quite harsh but they could understand why she was so irritated by him, even if he was just harmless. Finally Ally agreed to go over to him, while Esmee made her mark on Remus. Lily had already started work on James and nearly screamed out loud when he turned over and started mumbling in his sleep.

Lia was probably having the most fun however. She had just finished on Sirius hair, and was apprehensively moving closer in to get to his face, when he like James, moved in his sleep. What was worse was that as he moved, he flung an arm out as he rolled, capturing Lia in his grasp. She felt a moment of blind panic as she heard his voice, terrified that he'd awoken, but luckily he was just mumbling in his sleep.

"Chick…you know you want me…I'm the best…you can't resist me…dark haired chick…you need me…always better than you". He finished mumbling, and buried his face face into the side of Lia's neck. Lily and Esmee were doubled over in silent giggles as Lia lay their frozen. Strangely, Ally's face was completely blank as she went to help her cousin escape. Not a word was passed between them, but soon enough Lia was free. A quick squeeze of the hand in thanks was all the reaction Lia gave before they got back to work, Lia keeping a safer distance this time. Lily and Esmee shot confused looks at each other, noting that this wasn't the reaction they'd expected, but all they could do was shrug, Esmee doing so with narrowed eyes.

All four girls quickly tried to finish off their work, mindful that the sleeping spell wouldn't hold for much longer. Finally, five minutes before the spell was to end, Lia cast the spell so that the boys wouldn't be able to remove the spell for twenty four hours, she also added in a small charm, meaning the boys wouldn't be able to see what had been done to each other either. Gathering up their kit, the girls dived back under the cloak, once again vanishing from view.

Sirius awoke the next morning with the hint of a strange smell tickling at his nose. It was definitely different to the usual slightly musky smell of the boys' dormitory, but he couldn't for the life of him figure out what it was. He was also feeling very perturbed by the lasting impression of his dreams from the previous night. They had been more intense and vivid than usual, but as he got closer to remembering what they had been about, there seemed to be a wall blocking his way so he gave up.

Making his way over to the bathroom he looked in the mirror and decided he needed to shave – not noticing anything unusual about his appearance. As the other boys slowly emerged, they each commented on their strange dreams, but couldn't remember anything specific. After a lot of grumbling, they decided to make their way to the Great Hall for breakfast, where four girls were eagerly awaiting their arrival.

The girls were exhausted from the previous night, but Lia knew it would be worth it when the boys entered the Great Hall. She was listening to Ally and Lily talk about Muggle Studies, but noticed that Esmee wasn't listening, and her eyes were fixed intently on the doors.

"Why do Muggles watch television?" Ally asked Lily, curiosity burning in her light blue eyes.

Any answer Lily attempted to give was cut off by loud, raucous laughter coming from around the Great Hall. 'Show time', Esmee thought to herself. The boys all mirrored the same looks of confusion and started to examine themselves closely for any hint as to why they were being laughed at. Again. James' eyes slowly started to make out the small frame of Esmee, and with a determined expression and attitude, he made his way over to where she sat. Lia could hear the laughter but waited until the boys came over to confront them.

"What the hell is going on?!" James asked Esmee angrily.

"Wrong Jamie? Nothing", she answered innocently, trying desperately to hold back the laughter, a mission she was failing miserably at. Lia turned around and spat out the pumpkin juice she had been drinking because she was laughing so hard. Lily and Ally had also given up all hope and effort in trying to look dignified, and were now spluttering and pointing at the Marauders who were going crimson despite the fact that they had no idea what was going on.

"What have you done to us?" Peter squeaked, shrinking back from all the giggling and pointing that was engulfing them.

"Why would we do anything to you?" Lily asked in the same forged innocent tone. Remus looked as if he was going to suffer another nervous breakdown, and Sirius just looked confused and very angry.

"Cut the crap girls and tell us what you've done", James said getting more impatient by the second. His glasses were slightly askew, looking more demonic than anything else. He hated to be laughed at and was probably as angry with Sirius as he was with the girls- after all; this war had been his idea. James was, (apart from Sirius and Lia), the best prankster in the school and enjoyed doing it, but he'd had enough now. He hated humiliation with a burning passion.

"Do you really want to know the truth?" Ally asked still giggling. The boys looked at each other then back at the girls, nodding.

"Very well, your wish is our command", Lily said, then muttered a few choice words under her breath, and pointing her wand at the Marauders.

Ally then took out a pocket mirror and flipped it open for the boys to see. Blood curdling yells echoed around the hall, but this only added to the laughter which was getting stronger as the boys got redder with embarrassment.

Peter was wearing purple eye shadow and bright purple lipstick, which could usually be seen at Hallowe'en or at fancy dress parties. His bright red face, in contrast to all the purple, was clashing terribly- not a good look. Remus, trying desperately to hide, was wearing blue eye shadow and blue mascara with ice blue lipstick that seemed to be stuck to his lips at this point. James, looking the most angry, was wearing crimson eye shadow, blusher and lipstick, and was also finding it difficult to rub off. Sirius, also looking angry but confused and annoyed that he had underestimated the girls- again- was looking the most feminine in pink. Lia had chosen two colours of pink for his makeup, these being magenta pink eye shadow, baby pink blusher and lipstick. When you looked at the four Marauders, who clashed awfully, you'd immediately think drag queens, which wasn't doing much good for their reputations. The Slytherins, who were enjoying the scene immensely, kept wolf whistling at the boys and asking if they were free on the weekend. The guys just wanted to die at that moment in time but it wasn't over just yet.

"Sirius, didn't I tell you pink was your colour?" Lia asked who got some agreed applause from nearby Gryffindor girls. Sirius lost his confused expression and was now seething as much as James- his attention fixed on Lia.

"We'll get you back for this", he promised, but Lia only just raised an amused eyebrow at him.

"Really? Because I don't think you will this time Sirius darling."

"Of Course we will", he scoffed, "we're the Marauders- best pranksters in the school"

"Until now", Esmee said defiantly. The boys turned to face her, but she didn't back down, she just smiled her trademark smile and got the reaction she wanted. The boys groaned in annoyance when Ally decided to join in on the commentary.

"I think the old male Marauders are under there somewhere- what do you think Lils?"

"Definitely in there somewhere. Oh and James can I say that red goes so well with your hair", but she then had to break off as she was laughing so much. Lia then fixed her eyes back on Sirius.

"The truth is, you need us, unless you like your new looks. Shall we ask what the house thinks?" Then with a turn she was facing the rest of the Gryffindors and smiled around at them.

"Okay people we're going to have a vote. Who thinks that the boys should keep the drag queen look? Please raise your hands now", she paused and the whole table, (still laughing) put up their hands. Lia turned back to the boys smiling broadly.

"The vote is unanimous guys I'm afraid", only she didn't look too sympathetic. The boys looked despairingly at the other girls, and surprisingly it was Lily who relieved them of the vote.

"But seeing as we're great humanitarians, you don't have to this and we'll tell you how to get rid of the make-up". James was so happy that he ran over and kissed her on the cheek- surprisingly again, Lily blushed but didn't look angry. Lia and Esmee shared a secret smile but said nothing.

"That's great James, but red lipstick clashes with my hair and you've just printed a red lips mark on my cheek", Lily said trying to cover up for her moment of weakness.

"Sorry", James grinned despite the embarrassing predicament he was in.

"It's okay", she also grinned. Ever since they had that argument that turned James into a paranoid wreck, they had been getting on better. James was doing his best to change and Lily knew this, making her like him more for his efforts.

"This is a lovely moment you're having, but could we please focus on getting rid of the stuff on my face!" Remus yelled at them all.

"Yeah, because I'm not sure but I don't think lipstick should burn", Peter added with a worried frown.

"Okay, here's what's going to happen, we're going to tell you how to get rid of the make up, on one condition", Ally said holding up a hand.

"Okay what's that?" Peter asked still having the burning sensation in his lips.

"You admit that we win the prank war", Esmee smiled triumphantly. The boys looked at each other and nodded once before turning back to the girls.

"Well. Okay", James said admitting defeat, and hating every moment of it. Sirius who thought that the nod meant that they were not going to surrender, was looking at James with a mixture of disbelief and betrayal.

"What? No way!" he yelled.

"Sirius do you like having this stuff on your face?" Remus asked relieved that the nightmare was ending, but worried because if anyone could start it over again- Sirius could.

"Well. No but-"he was cut off by Remus again.

"There you go then, so shut up and let's end this horror now". Sirius still looked angry but stayed quiet for a change, surprising everyone.

"Okay girls- tell us how to end this", James said with an eager expression.

"Well…" Ally started but finished quickly just to annoy them.

"Come on will you!" Remus yelled losing control over himself again.

"Remus calm down, we don't want you having a nervous breakdown again do we?" Esmee soothed. He didn't say anything but started to breathe calmly again. Ally started to continue but Lia cut her off.

"Wait, before we tell you- say we win the prank war". Sirius looked like he was having apoplexy and fighting whether or not to say that they had won or not, but it was James who spoke first.

"You win the prank war", he said slowly through gritted teeth as if this was some difficult task.

"Good boy", Lily smirked.

"Don't push it", Peter quipped trying to sound threatening. He wouldn't have pulled it off normally, but with the purple make up all over his face it went down even worse.

"Ooh threats Peter? Or should I say Petra?" Esmee said causing laughter from her friends and around the Gryffindor table.

"So come on, how do you get rid of this?" James asked indicating around his face.

"It'll go by itself", Ally said fighting a grin.

"It will?" Sirius asked looking crestfallen and sceptical.

"Yep spell lasts for 24 hours- have a nice day", Lia added and with more laughter the girls ran out of the hall.

"I hate her", Sirius murmured whilst the others just looked murderous.

The eight students had been so involved with each other that they didn't even notice two pairs of eyes examining them from the professors table, Dumbledore had the tips of his fingers together and was looking thoughtful, if not slightly mischievous. Professor McGonagall on the other hand was looking pleased with herself, and with one eyebrow raised an amused smile said:

"Well Albus?"

"Very interesting indeed. All eight show promise, if only they could see behind the masked exterior produced by the other. In time I'm sure, but are you certain you still want to do this?" he asked McGonagall who nodded slowly.

"In time is all well and good Albus, but they must start to put these feelings aside and start to work together. Besides I want peace in my house", she finished.

"Minerva, I'm sure there is plenty of time before they need to fully work together, are you sure you are not just being impatient?" he asked surveying her through his half moon spectacles. McGonagall sniffed indignantly and turned to the Headmaster.

"No Albus I am not. This is the only way for them, and I have the perfect occasion for it to happen." Dumbledore didn't say anything but slowly nodded and continued to look around the Great Hall.

~That Night in the Boys Dorm~

Sirius was sulking. His friends knew they should leave him alone when he was in this sort of mood, but they didn't.

"Sirius you're only in a mood because you didn't think of the same idea", Peter was saying.

"Thank you, but putting make up on the girls wouldn't have had the same effect as it did on us", he answered sarcastically with his head propped up on his hand.

"Padfoot that's not what he meant", James said smiling slightly.

"Well what then?"

"You're pissed off because at the end of their prank they decided to end the war to their advantage. You're annoyed because you're thinking you should have done the same after the glue prank", Remus concluded with a smirk. Sirius grunted a reply, but it was enough to inform them that they were right. In between brushing his teeth and spitting out, James laughed and said:

"You've got to hand it to the though, they're very resourceful".

"What do you mean Prongs?" Peter asked confused. The boy spent most of his life confused and when it would end, nobody knew.

"Well we didn't think to end the prank war on our terms did we? They knew what they were going to do all along, our reactions were just an added bonus".

"Yes I think we got that", Sirius said moodily into his knees.

"Oh Sirius snap out of this bad mood because it's pissing me off", James said to his best friend.

"Anyway. You make a good point James, we severely underestimated them", Remus agreed.

"One of us in particular", Peter murmured leading all eyes to fix on Sirius again, who looked up innocently and wide eyed. James then got a sly expression on his face as an idea came to him and started to form.

"Lia in particular has impressed me these past few weeks", he said.

"I'm sure she'll sleep better knowing she has your approval", Remus grinned,

"It's a shame she doesn't like you Sirius", James said to the still form of Sirius. His head snapped to attention as he snarled.

"Please, it's only a matter of time. I can make any girl like me", he said clicking his fingers.

"Oh really?" James asked fighting back the laughter as Sirius played into his open hands.

"Yes really", Sirius said, remaining adamant. James looked over at Remus who seemed to be getting a better idea of what was going on.

"Okay then, if you're so sure I feel a bet coming on".

"This could be interesting", Peter murmured more to himself than anyone,

"What are the terms?" Sirius asked looking dubious.

"I bet you can't get Lia to like you by the end of February", James answered.

"And if I can?"

"I have to wear that make up shit for a week again. But if you can't, then you have to do it".

"That doesn't seem bad enough", Sirius grinned.

"Padfoot if I had to hear Snape ask, "who's a pretty girl?" once more today I would have killed him, then myself", James said shaking his head as he remembered the comments.

"Still." Sirius said remaining thoughtful. James sighed.

"Okay fine, I'll also wear one of Esmee's dresses". The other Marauders laughed.

"Deal!" Sirius declared shaking James' hand, but then added, "However, I don't think that the others should get away with nothing. Remus! I bet you can't get a date with Ally", Sirius laughed. Remus took a moment to answer then said:

"The same reversible terms?" Sirius nodded and the two shook hands. Peter, who was trying to creep out the door, was stopped by Remus' voice.

"Peter! I bet you can't get Esmee to say a nice comment to you". Peter took a moment to decide because this was a difficult bet to win, but agreed anyway. He hated to be left out of things.

"The same terms?" Remus asked, surprised when he agreed. They started to talk about something else when Peter realised that James didn't have a bet. He had terms if Sirius lost, but nothing to challenge himself.

"…Then she said-" Sirius was saying, but was cut off by Peter.

" Wait guys, I've just realised that James doesn't have a bet. So James, I bet that you can't get a date with Lily". James agreed immediately because him and Lily were getting on a lot better lately.

"The same terms?" James asked. Peter nodded, grinning openly whilst shaking James' hand. If any of them were feeling guilt about making these bets involving the girls, they hid it well. James and Remus in particular quickly squashed down any twinges of unease they'd felt when accepting the terms. One day, perhaps, the boys would learn that messing with the girls was not a good idea.


End file.
